Lyft
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- The policy describes staff access for safety and legal checks.
Lyft collects precise location, IDs, and ride history, shares for ads, keeps trips 7+ years.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
Account info, precise GPS, ride routes, device IDs, and sometimes contacts, calendar, selfies, and recordings.
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Privacy policy
“When you use the Lyft Platform, we collect the information you provide, usage information, and information about your device.”
Training
They use your data to run rides, fight fraud, improve the app, and show personalized ads.
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Privacy policy
“To grow the Lyft Platform and to share partner opportunities that are relevant to you, we use your personal information, including information we infer about you or receive from marketing parties, to provide Lyft and third party marketing, advertising, and promotions that may be personalized to you.”
Sharing
Drivers, other riders, employers, ad partners, and service providers can get pieces of your data.
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Privacy policy
“However, we may need to share your personal information with third parties to deliver relevant personalized ads to you on and off the Lyft Platform.”
Kept
Your profile lasts while you have an account; ride and payment records are kept at least seven years.
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Privacy policy
“We retain transactional information such as rides and payments for at least seven years to ensure we can perform legitimate business functions, such as accounting for tax obligations.”
Controls
You can edit some profile fields, request access or deletion, and turn off some ads and promo texts.
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Privacy policy
“Lyft provides ways for you to access and delete your personal information as well as exercise applicable data rights that give you certain control over your personal information.”
Fine print
Charges are non-refundable; you must cover Lyft’s legal costs.
No exact line could be verified.
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Request account deletion
Privacy Policy: Deleting Your Account — visit the linked deletion page they describe as “please visit here.”
Turn off personalized advertising
Privacy Policy: Cookie Tracking and Personalized Advertising — “You may also modify your personalized advertising setting here.”
Stop promotional texts
Text STOP to 46080, or STOPALL to 46080 to stop all Lyft texts
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
Lyft tracks exactly where you are during a ride, even if the app is in the background.
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Privacy policy
“Riders: We collect your device's precise location when you open and use the Lyft app, including while the app is running in the background from the time you request a ride until it ends.”
For example, after you request a ride, Lyft can keep GPS running until you get out, even if you switch apps.
Even after you stop using Lyft, trip and payment history can sit in their systems for many years.
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Privacy policy
“We retain transactional information such as rides and payments for at least seven years to ensure we can perform legitimate business functions, such as accounting for tax obligations.”
For example, a ride you took in 2024 could still be stored in 2031.
Lyft can keep using what you post or send, forever, and can pass that right to others.
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Terms of service
“you grant to us a non-exclusive, worldwide, , , , transferable, (through multiple tiers) right and license to exercise the copyright, publicity, and database rights you have in your Information”
For example, a photo or comment you add to your profile could still be used after you delete the app.
If your use of Lyft causes a lawsuit, you may have to pay Lyft’s legal bills.
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Terms of service
“You will and and, at Lyft's election, defend Lyft including our affiliates, subsidiaries, parents, successors and assigns”
For example, if a fight after a ride leads to a claim against Lyft, they can ask you to cover their costs.
Once you are charged for a ride or fee, Lyft generally will not give the money back.
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Terms of service
“All Charges are non-refundable except to the extent required by law.”
For example, if a driver cancels late or the app glitches, you still may not get a refund unless the law forces one.
They say they do not sell data for cash, but ad sharing can still count as a “sale” under some state laws.
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Privacy policy
“Some of these disclosures may constitute "sharing" or the "sale" of personal information for "targeted advertising" purposes under certain local (e.g., U.S. state) privacy laws”
For example, your trip patterns could help show you ads on other sites unless you opt out where the law allows.
If you or someone starts a recording in the app, Lyft can collect that audio and video.
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Privacy policy
“Users may choose to send us audio and video content, including in-ride recordings that may be initiated through the Lyft app.”
For example, an in-ride recording of a dispute could be stored with your account.
They promise not to sell your personal information for cash or act as a data broker.
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Privacy policy
“We do not sell your personal information to third parties for money–no one can buy the personal information we collect from and about you and we do not act as a data broker.”
For example, a marketing company cannot simply buy a list of Lyft riders from them for money.
For big privacy-policy changes they say they will notify you, and get consent if the law requires it.
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Privacy policy
“If we make material changes, we will let you know through the Lyft Platform or by some other method of communication like email and seek your consent where required by applicable laws.”
For example, if they start using a new kind of data, they say they will email you or show a notice in the app.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- third parties
- Any company or person other than you and the app, such as advertisers, partners or analytics firms. For example, an analytics company that receives a record of every screen you tap is a third party.
- targeted advertising
- Ads chosen for you based on what you have done across other apps and websites, not just this one. For example, you look at shoes in one app and see shoe ads in a totally different app the next day.
- retention
- How long a company keeps your data before deleting it. For example, a policy might keep your messages for 30 days after you delete them, or for as long as it likes.
- precise geolocation
- Your exact position, usually from GPS, often accurate to within a few metres. For example, an app can tell not just your city but which building you are in right now.
- perpetual
- Lasting forever, with no end date. For example, a perpetual licence means the company can keep using your video years after you leave.
- irrevocable
- Cannot be taken back or cancelled once given, even if you change your mind or delete your account. For example, an irrevocable licence to your photos means you cannot withdraw it later.
- royalty-free
- The company can use your content without ever paying you for it. For example, your photo can appear in the app's ads and you get nothing.
- sublicensable
- The company can pass its rights over your content on to other companies without asking you. For example, an app can let an advertiser or a partner reuse your video under the licence you gave.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- affiliates
- Other companies owned by or connected to the same parent company. For example, if you use one app, its sister apps under the same owner may also get your data.
- sell or share
- Under California law, selling means passing your data to others for money or other value; sharing means passing it on for targeted ads. For example, letting an ad network use your browsing history in return for ad space counts as a sale.
How we got here · grade D · score 38/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 1 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
Besides account and ride details, they collect precise GPS, contacts and calendar if allowed, advertising IDs, and data from partners.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
They may collect selfies for ID and optional in-ride audio or video, and they can record platform phone calls after a warning.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
They say they may monitor or record platform calls for security after telling you, and they collect message contents to run the service.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They use cookies, Google Analytics, SDKs, and other trackers to serve personalized ads on and off Lyft.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They say they do not sell data for money, but sharing for targeted ads may count as a sale under some laws, and they point to ad choices.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You keep ownership, but you grant Lyft a perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sublicensable license to your Information.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
You can request account deletion, but ride and payment records are kept at least seven years, and some data may stay for legal reasons.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
They draw inferences about you, such as being a frequent traveler, and do not describe a memory switch you can turn off.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say they take reasonable measures to protect data but do not guarantee security and do not describe audits.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
Users must say they are 18, though parents can set up teen rider or bike accounts for ages 13–17; there is no described age-proofing.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
Both documents are dated. For material privacy changes they say they will notify you and seek consent where the law requires it.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
Either side can end the agreement immediately without notice for a material breach; Lyft can also deactivate accounts for safety or eligibility.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The service is as-is with broad damage limits, and you must indemnify Lyft for claims arising from your use.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Ride and other charges are generally non-refundable except where the law requires a refund.
The privacy policy is 4,753 words at a college level (Flesch reading ease 45); the terms are 20,067 words at a college level.
