I wish it were easier to have ephemeral interactions with companies. Why do I need a tracked and maintained user profile for things like Uber? Shouldnt it be possible to only interact for the single transaction, ending as soon as I leave the car.

I imagine trying to continuously cycle accounts will run into various blocks, e.g. you can't sign up using your email/phone/credit-card because it is already linked to an existing account.

I hate the way the world is going. As the article states, Uber can probably classify my exact spending habits to maximize a price I'm willing to pay for. But id much rather them have to treat me as a new soul every time, and hopefully along those lines have to fight a bit harder to get my business.

On the other hand, if you're an Uber driver it is nice to know the person getting into your car was rated positively (not a dangerous individual, smelling of alcohol, etc.)

But I have actually no idea if drivers can say "no" based on ratings.

In general I would agree with you.

A key part of uber is the ratings system and bans, so they do want to track your behavior across interactions with their drivers (or riders, in the flip side).

This is why I refuse/back out of eshops that require accounts. Has the unintended upside that I often think twice about buying something and often dont. If I really need something though, ill create an account with a filler email, receive my product, and then make a really tedious (for the company) GDPR request because sometimes I like to be petty. Then I delete my account. If I need something from that store again, I will repeat that process.