You Can Forget Uber – but How Do You Make Sure They Forget You?

Lawyer Simon McGarr blogs at Tuppenceworth.ie, mostly about current affairs in general, and digital rights in particular.

In the light of recent controversy about Uber, some people have chosen to boycott the service, and delete the app from their phones.

But as Simon points out, while you may choose to forget Uber, they may not necessarily forget about you, unless you ask them to.

He’s posted a template for a letter which users could use to do just that, citing the applicable data protection legislation:

Dear Sirs,

I confirm that I have deleted the Uber app from my phone and will not be using your service again.

Under section 2 of the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003 it is no longer proportionate or necessary to store any personal data relating to me.

Please confirm that my account, financial and contact details as well as all details of all journeys taken by me or using my account through your service -other than this letter, have been deleted. Per section 6 of the Data Protection Acts, I await confirmation That this data has been destroyed in not less than 40 days from the data of this letter.

Simon says he was unable to find a contact email for Uber’s Irish office, so he’s sent it in the post, but an email ought to work just as well.

It’s an interesting exercise of individual rights under Irish data protection law, and I look forward to hearing about Uber’s response. Presumably the same approach could be used for Facebook, Google, Apple or any number of companies operating here.

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