After being given the cold shoulder by a hashtag-using public, Uber has finally taken the hint and given users the ability to delete their own account.
This new option — which should roll out in the next few weeks — comes in the wake of #DeleteUber, where dozens if not hundreds of users got rid of their accounts following numerous scandals. While doing that, they discovered deleting your Uber account was frustratingly obscure.
Up until this point, the only way to delete your account was to email Uber support directly. We wrote out instructions for anyone without the crystal ball necessary to figure it out. It’s unnecessarily complicated and uncomfortable — when I’m trying to get rid of a service, emailing the people involved and telling them I want nothing more to do with them seems like the harshest way to do it.
Not to mention it opens the door for Uber to try and persuade you to stay, in the manner of a desperate telecom call center employee. I’m not saying it’s ever happened, but the emails people got after the Susan Fowler fiasco reeked of begging.
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The company has now made a deletion program called “Dear John” which gives users the option to delete their Uber accounts from the app. You can also delete any contacts you may have uploaded to the app. Uber will still keep your data for 30 days in case you change your mind or you delete the account by accident.
Uber users will also see updates to their notification features in the future, choosing which specific kinds of notifications they want to receive and how. They’ll also be able to find their location-sharing options more easily.
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