How Uber appears to know the place you’re – even with restricted location permissions

Is the ride-hailing app secretly monitoring you? Probably not, however this iOS characteristic might make it really feel that manner.

09 Oct 2025
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3 min. learn

Whenever you land at an airport, you could be greeted with a notification in your telephone that reads:

For privacy-conscious customers who solely enable apps to entry their location whereas the app is in use, this will really feel unsettling. How might Uber know the place you’re in case you restricted the app to entry your location solely whereas in use?

After seeing the message a number of occasions, I lastly checked Uber’s permissions, sure it was set to solely “whereas utilizing the app” on each my private and enterprise telephone. And certainly, Uber’s location entry was set precisely as supposed: “whereas utilizing the app”.

And but, each units displayed the identical notification every time I landed, and getting this permission incorrect on two units appeared extremely unlikely. (As an apart, why there are different choices past this one is baffling. Why do any automobile service or meals apps have to know your location if you find yourself not actively utilizing them – apart from to trace you for business causes?)

The one different cause for what some would possibly view as a privateness infringement could possibly be a characteristic referred to as “Background App Refresh”, which permits an app to run and replace its content material even whenever you’re not utilizing it. Alternatively, this might be towards the precept of limiting location entry to solely whereas the app is in use, and it appears implausible that any app, particularly on iOS, can be allowed to bypass such a elementary privateness management.

So, how does Uber (and maybe different apps) know the place you’ve simply landed?

The reply lies in a characteristic referred to as “UNLocationNotificationTrigger” that Apple gives to builders. This characteristic permits an app to fireside a pre-configured notification when the gadget enters or exits a specified geographic area, reminiscent of an airport. That manner, it successfully circumvents the intent behind the “whereas utilizing the app” setting.

So, to reply the query above straight: no, Uber or different apps don’t know your location whenever you land. The notification is generated regionally in your telephone when it detects that you just’ve entered the pre-defined airport’s geofenced space.

Alternatively, the notification’s wording is deceptive: it makes it really feel like Uber is actively monitoring you and is providing steering. In actuality, it’s solely whenever you faucet the notification and open the app that your gadget shares your location with the app.

There are authentic causes for geofencing, in fact. For instance, a household security app might notify mother and father when their baby’s gadget enters or exits a chosen protected zone reminiscent of a faculty or residence. Or to make use of one other instance, a smart-home app might remind you to change off the lights whenever you depart the home.

Nevertheless, utilizing the identical mechanism for what can solely be seen as promoting is, in my view, an overreach. On this occasion, Uber is promoting its companies as quickly as I’m inside the boundaries of the airport. Think about strolling by way of a excessive road and having each retailer’s app ping you to return inside, principally ignoring your resolution to share your location solely whenever you’re utilizing their app.

It will appear wise for Apple to tighten the foundations round location-triggered notifications and limit them to non-advertising functions. This is able to make sure that the notifications are restricted to performance that serves the consumer and isn’t used for monetization functions.