A global bike-sharing company has been mining users’ personal data and selling it on to third parties to collect revenue, it has been revealed.
Beijing-based bicycle sharing company Ofo states in its terms and conditions that it is collecting detailed data on customers’ locations and movements and marketing them for profit.
The company is also tracking people by GPS as well as logging personal information about health and religious preferences and keeping passport numbers and birth certificate details on file, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Beijing-based bicycle sharing company Ofo has been mining users’ personal data and selling it on to third parties to collect revenue, it has been revealed
These revelations follow news that Ofo – along with a handful of similar share bike operators – is walking back its operations in Australia after a shaky period for the dockless bicycle company
Ofo states in its terms and conditions that it is collecting detailed data on customers’ locations and movements and marketing them for profit
These revelations follow news that Ofo – along with a handful of similar bike-share operators – is backing out of the Australia market after a shaky period for the dockless bicycle company.
Market research analyst IBISWorld suggested that the downfall of companies like this can be party attributed to a business model based on ‘obtaining revenue through data mining, [and] advertising… rather than the fee charges per ride.’
Singapore-based bike-share company oBike, meanwhile, has announced that it’s going into liquidation, owing members $6.1 million.
Governmental regulations are thought to be strangling the share bike companies, as the NSW government plans to enforce $2,500 fines for dumped bikes.
![Market research analyst IBISWorld suggested that the downfall of companies like this can be party attributed to a business model based on 'obtaining revenue through data mining, [and] advertising... rather than the fee charges per ride'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/07/10/15/4E101BEA00000578-5938363-image-a-71_1531233604760.jpg)
Market research analyst IBISWorld suggested that the downfall of companies like this can be party attributed to a business model based on ‘obtaining revenue through data mining, [and] advertising… rather than the fee charges per ride’
Governmental regulations are thought to be strangling the share bike companies, as the NSW government plans to enforce $2,500 fines for dumped bikes
Melbourne has already rolled out a system that sees bike dumpers being slapped with $3,000 fines
Melbourne has already rolled out a system that sees bike dumpers being slapped with $3,000 fines.
NSW premier Premier Gladys Berejiklian, however, disputes the claim that regulations are stifling innovation and ideas like share bikes.
‘That’s what they say,’ she stated. ‘It could just be that people don’t want to use the system and it could be that people aren’t happy with how it’s working.’
As of 2017, Ofo operated over 10 million yellow bicycles in 250 cities around the world.