How Uber knows your phone battery is dying and more - CSMonitor.com
▻http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2016/0521/How-Uber-knows-your-phone-battery-is-dying-and-more
The deciding factor between a potential user hailing an Uber during peak hours or deciding to wait for fares to die down? The charge left on their smartphone.
The surprising correlation was revealed by chief economic researcher at Uber Keith Chen in an interview with NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast. Users are much more likely to accept surge pricing when their phones are close to dying, versus users with a full charge.
Dr. Chen talked about the massive amont of data the ride-hailing service collects about users. So much so that, he says, the service takes precautions to use it ethically. For example, Uber may know about the low-battery link to surge pricing, but it doesn’t utilize it to charge a premium.