Remains of the Day: Uber Wants to Track Your Location Even When You’re Not Using It

Uber recently started asking permission to collect your location data even when you aren’t using the app, and some people are understandably concerned. Uber says that they won’t literally track you everywhere you go; they just need a little more data about your pick-up and drop-off.

Some people are reticent to grant Uber complete access to their location data even when the app is closed. The intention, Uber says, is that they want to study rider habits to improve the pick-up and drop-off experience and that it will only look at your location for five minutes after you get dropped off. On iPhones, though, that means you need to grant them access to your location even when you’re not using the app. (Android users seem to be in the same boat with a request that just says “Please enable location services.”) If you’re really paranoid, you could refuse permission whenever you’re not using the app, and then grant access when you need it. [TechCrunch]
In other news, Facebook is stopping Prisma users from broadcasting their painterly filters on Facebook Live. They’re cutting off Prima’s API access on the grounds that the Live Video API is intended to be used by professional publishers who use external cameras for their Facebook Live broadcasts, and not to broadcast from other apps. Facebook, coincidentally, is launching similar filters of their own. [TechCrunch]
Tor has issued an important update to address a Firefox vulnerability that could be exploited to de-anonymize users. Mozilla’s open-source Firefox provides the underlying code for the anonymous Tor Browser. [Ars Technica]
You can now make Twitter Moments within the mobile app. Twitter Moments are essentially just collections of tweets that you can use to tell a story. [Twitter]
Ariana Huffington’s new health and wellness-focused venture is selling a $100 bed for your phone. Goodnight, moon, goodnight, phone. [Gizmodo]

Fllike wants to be the Yelp of airlines

Flying used to be a glamorous endeavor. In the 1970’s, even those flying coach could enjoy legroom and a half-decent meal. But then airlines started cutting back. As fuel prices rose, amenities began to vanish. Now, flying sucks. Not even a free prostate exam (thanks TSA!) makes up for flying Spirit.

One person who knows this especially well (flying, not complimentary TSA prostate exams) is Chris Holmes, founder and CEO of Fllike. This iPhone app lets you review your flight from your iPhone in just a matter of seconds, sharing it with other users of the app.

Holmes believes that as more people use it, it’ll build a picture of quality across the airlines, allowing consumers to make more informed decisions about who they fly with. Holmes believes that “eventually Fllike will offer a great picture of airline performance regardless of price.”

The app lets you give each element of your flight a score ranging from one to ten. Once you’ve keyed in your flight number or scanned your boarding pass, you can rate the seats, the crew, the timeliness, the food, and even the quality of the aircraft by swiping on a slider.

This desire to make the flying experience more bearable comes from a personal place. “I work for a soap company. My role is in business development. This means that I take around 50 flights every year,” he explained.

“This is all about customer experience, and providing a platform for people to share that in a simple and beautifully designed way.”

Fllike lands at a time when the fight rating market is heating up. There are incumbents like Skytrax, of course, who are the industry leaders. And two weeks ago, one of the most popular travel apps, Tripit, introduced a feature that lets passengers review the flights they take.

But there are some key differences.

Fllike is a damn sight better looking than Tripit. And in the coming months, it will allow users to book flights straight from the app.

“You’ll be able to see each airline’s score before you book. What better than flying an airline your trusted friends have already rated?”

You can download from Fllike from the iOS App Store. An Android version is expected to land early next year.

Read next: Instagram will now alert you if someone screenshots your temporary direct messages

Matthew Hughes is a journalist from Liverpool, England. His interests include security, startups, food, and storytelling. Follow him on Twitter.

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