Scooters are apparently a fad again with middle schoolers. Scooter startups are getting VC cash and attention from big companies like Alphabet. The smart scooters are also tracking your kids and selling their data.
A new blog post from the organization’s Northern California branch analyzes all of the data-collection practices of Spin, Bird, and Lime. To put it mildly, these companies’ policies all seem a bit reckless. For example, all three startups have persistent user tracking, meaning they are following users’ every move from the time they use the scooter until the end of the session. As the ACLU writes, this means it will know if you’re going to a “political protest, or to a religious service, or to see a medical specialist.” And, of course, these companies are keeping this data for an undisclosed amount of time while reserving the right to share it with third parties.
Check It Out: These Smart Scooters are Tracking Your Children
Tracking anyone who is using them.