This is a nice AstroTurf campaign by Uber. Regular taxis in NYC already give this information. It is about tracking the taxis, not the customers.<p>It's kind of crazy that Uber is trying to leverage customer privacy concerns given they recently started tracking customer location data even after they are dropped off.
Before everyone cries foul, let's not forget that what the government is proposing to collect is just a small subset of the data that private companies like Uber and Lyft already have on you. There it's accessible by untold number of people for all kinds of unregulated purposes.
This would be terribly evil and awful, and I hope it doesn't go through.<p>Eventually, trying to keep your personal whereabouts out of a government database will itself be so suspicious you'll probably be tailed.
From the proposal PDF linked in the article:<p>"Although almost all TLC-licensed drivers do not drive an excessive number of hours, TLC recognized that a small number does and that some drivers may be tempted to work dangerously long hours. Therefore, in support of the City’s Vision Zero initiative to reduce traffic fatalities,TLC adopted rules in July 2016 to address the risks of fatigued driving"<p>If "almost all TLC licensed drivers do not drive an an excessive number of hours", then this is a very minor problem which should be able to be corrected by enforcement at the FHV(for hire vehicle) level and not by a proposal that not only has potential privacy implications but also has city budgetary implications.<p>If New York City and the TLC's legitimate focus were on safety and quality of life(Vision Zero)issues then they could start by fixing the problem of aggressive driving by taxis - including blocking the cross-walk boxes, and intersections, blatantly running lights after they are clearly turned red as well as other general uncivil and aggressive behavior such as excessive and unnecessary horn blowing.
Unrelated: the time frame to comment on this rule for residents has expired. Were it that I was aware of this earlier! How can I not miss these things in the future?