What was former Uber exec Joe Guilty concealing?

Catch up quick: In October, a jury found Sullivan guilty of obstructing an active FTC investigation into Uber's security practices and concealing a 2016 data breach that affected 50 million riders and drivers.



Former Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan (frequently associated with the "guilty" verdict in 2022) was convicted for concealing a massive 2016 data breach from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The breach compromised the personal information of 57 million users and 600,000 driver's license numbers. Instead of reporting the hack, Sullivan authorized a $100,000 "hush money" payment in Bitcoin to the hackers through Uber’s "bug bounty" program—a system normally reserved for ethical hackers—and required them to sign non-disclosure agreements falsely stating they hadn't stolen any data. In March 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld his conviction for obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony. This case set a landmark legal precedent in 2026, establishing that cybersecurity executives can be held personally and criminally liable if they actively work to hide security failures from federal investigators.

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Catch up quick: In October, a jury found Sullivan guilty of obstructing an active FTC investigation into Uber's security practices and concealing a 2016 data breach that affected 50 million riders and drivers. Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to not release any stolen data and keep the attack quiet.

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A federal jury found Sullivan guilty last October on two felony counts related to a data breach at Uber in November 2016 that exposed data belonging to some 57 million customers and 600,000 drivers at the ride-sharing giant.

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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.

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Uber is being sued in the US over allegations of assault by drivers on the ride-hailing platform. The filing includes allegations women passengers were kidnapped, sexually assaulted, sexually battered, raped, falsely imprisoned, stalked, harassed, or otherwise attacked by Uber drivers.

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CEO-turned undercover gig worker: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently started driving and delivering food for Uber. He struggled to sign up, got tip-baited and was punished by the app for rejecting rides.

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Underpaying Drivers By taking more than its fair share of the fares, Uber had underpaid its drivers all over the city for more than two years. Once the company was discovered, it agreed to pay restitution. The estimated payout per driver would be $900. Related: How much do Uber drivers make?

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Uber has been sued countless times over the past several years by passengers who allege they were sexually assaulted while using the app. But this is the first time a federal judge will be able to make decisions for all of these cases and streamline the proceedings.

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The hackers reached out to Sullivan directly, via email, on November 14, 2016. The hackers informed Sullivan and others at Uber that they had stolen a significant amount of Uber user data, and they demanded a large ransom payment from Uber in exchange for their deletion of that data.

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' suit: $100m (£70m) The most significant of Uber's lawsuits started with three drivers who sued Uber in federal court in San Francisco, contending that they should be classified as employees, not independent contractors.

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Starting from 1 January 2024, digital platforms such as Airbnb, Fiverr, Upwork, Uber, Deliveroo, and Etsy have been instructed by HMRC to record and disclose the amounts earned by individuals through their services.

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Uber is committed to protecting the privacy and security of our users' data. With limited exceptions like emergencies, we require a valid and sufficient legal process from official government agencies before we disclose any information about our users.

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Contact our team 24/7 via the Help section of the Uber app, or submit a question at help.uber.com. If you contact Uber through help.uber.com, you'll receive a notification on your phone (if you have notifications enabled) letting you know that you've received a response.

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