Safeboda has today updated their terms and conditions for its passagers, and we would highly encourage you to read them before you accept them. In July 2020, Unwanted Witness Uganda a civil society organization — a detailed report that exposed Uganda’s leading motorbike ride-sharing company SafeBoda – for sharing user’s data with 3rd-parties without their permission.
ALSO READ: SafeBoda ‘caught’ sharing user data with 3rd-parties without their permission
Today, the National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U) has released a report on data protection that exhilarated SafeBoda that says that the company did not sell any customer data. NITA-U and Unwanted Witness however made some recommendations for the company improve their privacy policies to protect Users’ rights. In a blog released today, the ride sharing firm has confirmed that they have now improved the wording of their policies they were indeed proud to be a role model in the ecosystem, and “paving the way for Ugandan start-ups”.
Looking deep into the privacy policy and terms of use, we have picked out some of the terms that have caught our attention these include the following;
- By using the SafeBoda App, the User consents to SafeBoda collecting, using, and processing of my data for analytical and marketing purposes and acknowledges that the data may be transferred out any data processing.
- We have no obligation to intervene in any way in disputes that may arise between drivers, riders, or third parties. Responsibility for the decisions made regarding providing or accepting transportation rests solely with the User.
- It is up to the driver or supplier to decide whether to offer a ride or provide any service to a User contacted through the SafeBoda Application, and it is up to the User to decide whether or not to accept any goods or services from any goods or service provider contacted through the SafeBoda Application.
- By using the SafeBoda App, You (the User) give your consent to SafeBoda to collect, use and process your personal data for analytical and marketing purposes and all reasons incidental to and acknowledge that the data may be transferred out of the jurisdiction, subject to the terms in our Privacy Policy.
- By accepting these Terms of Use, you (the User) voluntarily acknowledge and consent to the collection, use, processing, and transfer of personal data
- SafeBoda reserves the right to suspend cashless services or payment at any point. SafeBoda shall at any time suspend the cashless services without notice to the User where there is any indication of fraudulent or suspicious activity on the user account.
- We may reject, reclassify, or remove any User Content from Our Site where, in Our sole opinion, it violates Our Acceptable Usage Policy, or If We receive a complaint from a third party and determine that the User Content in question should be removed as a result.
- If you wish to remove User Content from Our Application, the User Content in question will be deleted or anonymized. Please note, however, that caching or references to your User Content may not be made immediately
It is clear that the new terms of use by SafeBoda don’t guarantee protection of user’s data, as it clearly shows that the company will still collect it and use it as they see fit– in this cases for data analytics and marketing purposes. In the previous allegations by Unwanted witness, the company was reportedly accused of using Facebook’s Software Development Kit (SDK) to collect information on Safeboda users and sent it to Facebook servers, regardless of whether they were Facebook users or not; this meant that even if the user didn’t have the Facebook app installed on their phone or a Facebook account, the Safeboda app would still send data to Facebook. They also used CleverTap, a world-renowned data processor and analytical software to process the data.
“NITA-U’s finding were clear, sharing personal data to CleverTap contravened the Data Protection and Privacy Act of Uganda since the “consents” relied upon for the disclosure were not specific neither were they informed, given that the users were not informed of a) the extent of the personal data collected and b) the potential disclosure of their personal data with CleverTap. Now that SafeBoda has informed it’s users and there is only one Opt-in option, which means you have no choice but to agree to the terms set else you try other ride sharing services. This doesn’t mean that the company will stop sharing your information with 3rd parties — a common practice with the likes of social media giants like Facebook.
NITA-U also recommended that SafeBoda Data Privacy Policy be made more readily available to customers which is has started implementing in their latest software updates to its apps and website. NITA-U published its report here.
What do you think of the new SafeBoda terms of use? Leave us a comment below.
