You Can Now Delete Your Uber Account Right From the App

Uber is letting you delete your account from within the app itself.  That’s awesome right?  Well, technically yes, but why was it such a difficult process in the first place?  I probably sound like a broken record most days, but why are things like this so difficult in the first place?  I have never understood things that aren’t user friendly.  Especially when they’re driven by users to begin with.  Apps for example.  You want people to download and ultimately use them.  So why make them difficult in the first place?  It’s ultimately a turn off, in my opinion.  And a deterrent from wanting to use your app.

So why is Uber finally doing this?  They are saying that its part of their new privacy settings.  Previously, you had to contact the Uber support team and asked to have your account closed and ultimately your data removed from their system.  Which likely infuriated many users.  Especially with all the bad press that Uber has been getting lately, it’s no wonder that people want to leave.  And just deleting the app from your phone wasn’t enough.

According to a Gizmodo report, internally this privacy setting has been given the code name “Dear John”.  Which is actually kind of funny if you ask me.  For the young kids out there, this is not a reference to the Channing Tatum movie of the same name.  But rather a reference to a woman writing a letter to her husband, letting him know that she’s found someone else.  Essentially putting the nail in the coffin for Uber while they watch their clients leave for other ride sharing apps.

They did it to themselves though.  There are so many accusations and suggestions of wrong doing on behalf of Uber, that I’m not going to get into.  But even if these things weren’t true, they have been convicted in the court of public opinion.  I am by no means defending Uber in all of this.  I’m making the case that right or wrong (and wrong in this case) we tend to judge on what we hear in the media as having happened.  And in Uber’s case, they’ve done it.  But not only have they done it, they’ve defended themselves on doing it.  Many good companies would admit to wrong-doing and then immediately make steps to change the bad behaviour or the issues that are evident.

But not Uber.  And what I think is maybe the worst part of it all, is that they had (have?) a really amazing platform from a technology perspective.  There is the ability for both the company and the drivers to make money while providing a service to the consumer that they actually want.  But instead, they threw the whole thing away over a series of bad decisions.  And now your idea is out there for everyone and their brother to copy.  So no, I don’t feel bad for Uber.  The good news, however, is that you can now delete your account right out of the app.  The only catch is that they will store the data for 30 days after the account is closed, but that seems pretty standard.