Princeton Logo

Privacy Policy

Last Updated: March 31, 2026

This Chrome extension is part of an academic research study (Princeton IRB# 19357) about Uber’s personalized pricing. The extension is unlisted and is shared only with individuals who have consented to participate in the study.

Participation is voluntary. You may stop at any time by disabling or uninstalling the extension.

What This Extension Does

The extension automatically performs scheduled Uber ride searches over a period of up to three weeks.

  • No rides are booked.
  • Searches are limited in number and spaced over time.
  • The extension runs in the background while Chrome is open and you are logged into Uber.
  • In about a week, the extension will automatically request that a copy of your personal Uber data be sent to the email address you have on file with Uber. This is the data that Uber saves about you as a consumer (not as a driver). It includes all trips you have taken, all food delivery and pickup orders, your Uber status, your Uber ratings, how you pay for Uber (e.g., Visa vs Mastercard), etc. The request will be made by automatically clicking the “Download Data” button on myprivacy.uber.com/exploreyourdata/download. You will then upload your Uber data to us.
  • The extension may notify you if action needs to be taken, e.g., if the ride searches are not succeeding or if you log out of Uber.

Information Collected

The extension collects only the information necessary to conduct the research study:

Eligibility Verification

  • Based on browsing history, has this Chrome profile been used frequently in the past week? (We confirm it’s a frequently used browser based on browsing history, but won’t send any browsing history other than aggregate counts of unique pages and unique domains per day.)
  • Is the user logged into Uber in this Chrome profile?
  • Has the Uber account been used for at least five rides in the past year?

Ride Search Data

  • Ride request time, origin, and destination (from predefined queries)
  • Displayed price estimates
  • Search timestamps
  • Search success/failure status

Approximate Location

Used to understand if there is an effect of your actual location on your ride price

Technical/Diagnostic Information

  • Extension status
  • Error logs
  • Scheduling information

The extension uses Chrome local storage to manage scheduled searches.

What We Do Not Collect

The extension does not collect:

  • Uber passwords or authentication credentials
  • Payment information
  • Private messages
  • Full browsing history
  • Data unrelated to Uber ride searches

Data is not used for advertising, marketing, or commercial purposes.

How Data Is Used

Data is used solely for academic research to analyze Uber price variation and monitor study operations.

Data is transmitted to secure research servers and is accessible only to authorized members of the research team. We do not sell or share data with advertisers or third parties for commercial use. Research findings may be published only in aggregated or anonymized form.

Data Retention

Data will be retained only as long as necessary to complete the research study and analysis, after which identifiable data will be deleted or anonymized according to research protocols.

Your Control

You may stop participation at any time by disabling or uninstalling the extension. Uninstalling immediately stops all data collection.

Contact

For questions about the study or this policy: rideshare-study@princeton.edu

For questions about your rights as a research participant: