Uber starts rolling out in-app chat for drivers and riders

Sometimes it’s just easier to message your Uber driver than try to call him or her. And that’s why Uber has started to roll out globally an in-app messaging feature to make it easier to get in touch with your driver. When you tap on the Contact button below the driver’s name you’ll see a chat window there. Your messages to the driver will be read to them, so they can continue driving safely. If they need to respond, they can just do so with one tap and a thumbs up icon will be sent to the rider. But if you still need to call the driver, there will be a phone icon on the upper right hand of the window.

Source: The Verge

Uber reportedly holding a meeting to begin clean up of its toxic corporate culture

While Uber has been one of the key companies that have disrupted the transportation industry, it’s also been rife with controversy. It’s been reported by both Recode and Reuters that Uber’s board is looking to remedy that by holding an important meeting today, June 11^th to help clean up what’s being considered a controversial and toxic corporate culture. The board will be discussing the recommendations from its workplace probe and it might be holding a number of executives accountable for what’s been happening. And that could include the company’s CEO Travis Kalanick—at least temporarily. And he might come back in a different position or have reduced powers or stricter oversight. The hiatus might come at an opportune time for Kalanick as his mother recently died from a boating accident and his father is seriously injured.

Aside from Uber’s CEO though, those that are said to be facing uncertain futures include Senior VP Emil Michael, human resources head Ryan Graves, and technical lead Thuan Pham. But aside from possibly cutting off executives, the board is said to start adopting a variety of management and policy reforms suggested after the investigation. Uber’s staff is expected to hear about the board’s decisions on the 13^th and we might perhaps hear about it then.

Source: Engadget

Uber makes it easier to delete your account, gives you more control over your data

A new update for Uber makes it easier to delete your account on the ride-hailing app. It’s now possible to delete your account and the accompanying data right from your smartphone. Before uninstalling the app doesn’t entail that your data gets deleted from Uber’s server. You had to go through the tedious process of contacting Uber’s support team to get your data removed. The new process will begin a 30-day countdown from the Privacy Settings page from when you delete your account. After those 30 days, it’ll remove all your data. According to Uber’s Product Manager Zach Singleton, this makes things a bit easier for them. “Internally, this lets us manage it better in terms of scale.”

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Uber loses VP of Global Vehicle Programs

One more Uber executive has left the company. This time its Sherif Marakby, Uber’s vice president of Global Vehicle Programs, who helped launched the company’s self-driving program in Pittsburgh. It isn’t clear why Marakby left Uber but according to Automotive News, it isn’t related to the lawsuit the company has with Waymo. It can’t be said if it’s related to sexual harassment allegations either. Marakby joined Uber back in April after working for Ford for 25 years.

“Sherif’s deep experience and knowledge of the automotive industry have helped us tremendously in working to make self-driving cars a reality,” an Uber spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement. Marakby joins at least five other execs who’ve left the company in the past few months, including its head of comms, president, head of AI Labs, SVP of engineering, and VP of growth.