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 documents do not say who can read your content.
Lyft collects precise location, trip history, and ads data, keeps rides for years.
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
They collect account info, precise location, trips, device IDs, and sometimes contacts, calendar, and photos.
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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, keep people safer, improve the app, and show personalized ads.
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Privacy policy
“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, riders, service partners, and ad partners can see some of your information.
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Privacy policy
“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
They keep your profile while you have an account and keep ride and payment records for 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 info, limit ads, unsubscribe from promos, and request account deletion.
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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 usually not refundable, and they take a broad license to your posts.
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.
Turn down personalized ads
Privacy policy: Cookie Tracking and Personalized Advertising — modify your personalized advertising setting at the link they provide, plus your browser or device ad controls
Request account deletion
Privacy policy: Deleting Your Account — visit the deletion link they provide in that section
Stop promotional texts and emails
Text STOP to 46080 for promo texts, STOPALL for all texts; click unsubscribe in promotional emails
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
You keep ownership of what you post, but Lyft gets a lasting right to use, copy, and it even after you leave.
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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 profile photo or feedback you wrote could still be used under that license after you delete the app.
If your use of Lyft leads to a legal fight, you may have to cover Lyft’s legal costs.
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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 dispute over a ride or something you posted pulls Lyft into a lawsuit, they can ask you to pay their lawyers.
Ride fares and other charges are generally not given back, unless the law forces a refund.
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Terms of service
“All Charges are non-refundable except to the extent required by law.”
For example, if a ride is delayed or you cancel after a fee applies, you usually cannot get that money back from Lyft.
The app tracks your exact location during a ride, including 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, from the moment you request a ride until you get out, Lyft can follow your phone’s GPS even if the app is not on screen.
They say they do not sell your data for cash, but sharing it for personalized ads 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 be used to show you ads on other sites, and some states let you opt out of that sharing.
Even after a trip is over, ride and payment records stay on file 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 today could still be in their records seven years later for taxes or disputes.
Other companies’ tracking tools help Lyft see how you use the app and serve ads.
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Privacy policy
“We collect and use information through the use of "cookies," tracking pixels, data analytics tools like Google Analytics, SDKs, and other third-party tracking technologies on and off the Lyft Platform”
For example, after you open Lyft, you might see related ads elsewhere because of cookies and ad IDs.
For big privacy-policy changes they say they will tell you, and they will ask for 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 would notify you in the app or by email.
They say nobody can buy your personal information from them for cash.
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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 list buyer cannot simply purchase your name and trip history from Lyft as a product.
You are supposed to be 18, though a parent can set up certain teen accounts.
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Terms of service
“By becoming a User, you represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years old.”
For example, a 15-year-old generally cannot open a normal Lyft account without a parent using the teen or family options.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 F · score 34/100 · 16 of 16 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 2 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect more than account and ride details, including precise location, device and ad IDs, optional contacts and calendar, photos, and data from partners.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
They may collect selfie photos for identity and optional audio or video, including in-ride recordings and some phone calls they warn you about.
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?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They use cookies, Google Analytics, SDKs, and other third-party tools to track you and 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 your data for money, but they share it for targeted ads, which some state laws treat as a sale, and they point to ad choices.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You still own what you post, but you give Lyft a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sublicensable license to use it.
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 they keep ride and payment records for at least seven years and may keep more for legal or safety reasons.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
They build inferences about you, such as being a frequent traveler or guessed gender, and the policy does not describe full memory on/off controls.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They say they take reasonable measures to protect your information but do not guarantee security and do not describe an independent audit here.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
You must say you are 18, though a parent or guardian can create certain teen accounts for 13–17-year-old riders or 16–17-year-old bike users.
Can you sue or join a class action if things go wrong?
Mandatory arbitration and a class-action waiver, no opt-out
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
The privacy policy lists data types and some retention periods. For material privacy changes they say they will notify you and seek consent if the law requires it. The terms also say continued use means you accept changes.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They can shut down an account for safety, ratings, or eligibility, and they say they will give notice and a chance to fix some issues. The terms do not describe exporting your data first.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The service is offered as is with broad limits on what Lyft pays, and you must cover their legal costs for claims tied to 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.
