A leaked trove of confidential files has revealed the inside story of how the tech giant Uber flouted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments during its aggressive global expansion.
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At the time, Uber was not just one of the world's fastest-growing companies - it was one of the most controversial, dogged by court cases, allegations of sexual harassment, and data breach scandals. Eventually shareholders had enough, and Travis Kalanick was forced out in 2017.
According to Uber's 2019 to 2020 safety report, there were 101 deaths that occurred in 91 fatal Uber accidents. Most of these collisions (32 percent) involved at least one speeding vehicle. The second highest cause was from alcohol-impaired drivers (23 percent).
In 2019 a German court declared the Uber app illegal because it bypassed registered and regulated taxi companies. Uber was also banned or restricted around the same time in London, Barcelona, and some other European cities. Uber now manages to operate in Germany and the EU only as a regulated taxi service.
Uber Driver ShortageThe COVID-19 pandemic and even carjackings have led many drivers to leave the gig economy and drive for Uber, which has led to a driver shortage for Uber, which means you might have trouble getting a ride through the Uber app.
What Data Did the Hacker Access? After successfully connecting to Uber's intranet, the hacker gained access to the company's VPN and discovered Microsoft Powershell scripts containing the login credentials of an admin user in Thycotic - the company's Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution.
In July, a massive leak of Uber's internal texts, emails, invoices, and other documents revealed that under ex-CEO Travis Kalanick, the company had lobbied political leaders to relax labor and taxi laws; used a “kill switch” to obstruct law enforcement from getting access to corporate data; funneled money through tax ...
In September, ridesharing company Uber disclosed that hackers had stolen the personal information of about 57 million customers and drivers. The days following the attack were full of speculation around how the attacker – allegedly a 17 year old – was able to gain access to the systems.
Uber first lost its license to operate in London in 2017 after TfL accused the company of demonstrating “a lack of corporate responsibility” with potential “public safety and security implications.” It cited the company's shortcomings when it came to reporting criminal offenses, issuing driver background checks, ...
Uber faces bans and restrictions in many countries, including China, Switzerland, Turkey, Denmark, Hungary, Thailand, Canada, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Hong Kong, and parts of Australia. The bans often stem from Uber's lack of adherence to local regulations and its unfair competition with taxi services.
Regulatory CASE STUDY: Uber in SpainUber's disruptive business model was rolled out in Spain in 2014, but was banned in 2015 on the grounds of unfair competition after pressure from the Spanish taxi lobby and government. On 31st March 2016, Uber resumed operations in Spain by launching UberX in Madrid.
Arna Kimiai, the woman who went viral earlier this month for assaulting and coughing on her Uber driver after he asked her to put on a mask, is now in police custody. Kimiai turned herself in to San Francisco Police last Thursday, Vice News reports.
The most recent Uber data breach occurred in April 2023, when Uber's law firm informed drivers that their sensitive data had been stolen in a data breach. As of October 2023, there have been no reported Uber data breaches since this incident.
Uber's 2019-2020 Safety Report states that 99.9% of all Uber rides are completed without incident. The 78-page report stated Uber dealt with 3,824 incidents of severe sexual assault and misconduct in the U.S., including that 20 people were killed in assaults.