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Tech

Uber Added a 'Delete Your Account Page'—But Only After I Asked About It

The company quietly deleted contact information from its website two weeks ago.
Image: Uber

Want to delete your Uber account? You can't do it on your own. While many apps provide a simple "cancel my account" or "delete my login" option, the car-hailing service does not. If you want to delete your account, you have to ask Uber to do it for you.

In the past, you used to be able to submit an account deletion request using a form on Uber's website. But two weeks ago, Uber quietly removed that form when it revamped its help center to be more of a troubleshooting guide and less interactive.

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On Monday, after I asked Uber why it removed the ability for users to "submit a request" for deletion (or for any other problem) through its website, the company added a specific "delete my account" help page with instructions to email the company.

The Uber help "Account" page, Monday (left) and Tuesday (right). Screengrabs: Uber.com

My inquiry was sparked by the news that hacked Uber accounts are being sold on the darknet and have been used to take rides by the people who have bought them. Uber says that, on the company's end, there has been no breach.

"We've investigated and found no evidence there's a breach, so there's no reason people need to be deleting their accounts, because there hasn't been a breach," an Uber spokesperson told me. "We are using this as an opportunity to suggest that users change their passwords if they're worried, and suggest that they don't use the same password across multiple sites."

Of course, there are lots of reasons why someone might want to delete their account—if they no longer use the service, if they suspect their account has been hacked or compromised in some way, or if they don't agree with the company's policies for whatever reason. The company's new "delete my account" page implores users to keep their accounts open.

"Don't forget, there are no recurring or subscription fees with Uber," the page says. "You'll only be charged for the rides you take, so there's no harm in keeping your account just in case you'd like to use it in the future."

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One of the users who had his account sold on the darknet, however, says he hadn't used his account since December, 2013, but kept it open anyway.

So what's the latest? According to the new instructions—which again, were only posted after several back-and-forths between me and a spokesperson for the company—there's still no way to delete your Uber account within the actual Uber app or using the company's website. Instead, you have to send an email to support@uber.com specifically asking someone at the company to manually delete your account information. There are no indications that the company is planning on making it any easier to delete your account.

Furthermore, there may still be other bugs with the new help page. An automated email I received from Uber yesterday while testing out a few email addresses I'd used in the past suggested that "for all other inquiries," I visit a submission form page on the website. That page no longer exists, and the link sent to me in the email redirects to the general help page, which is not interactive. To be fair, I did email support@uber.com asking if the company would delete my account, and a representative responded within an hour-and-a-half.

"We just migrated over to a new help site two weeks ago. We are still in the process of tweaking the content and customizing the site map to make it more user-friendly," an Uber spokesperson told me. "One of the updates we've been working on is replacing the broad 'submit request' form with specific request links, and there is now a specific link here with instructions on how users can delete their account."

That is true, now. But it wasn't yesterday—if no one had called Uber out on it, would those instructions exist?