(Photo credit: Alexander Torrenegra/Flickr)
Uber may offer a less expensive ride than a cab, but some unflattering details over the ride sharing program recently came to light.
Uber launched an investigation after a Buzzfeed journalist published that the general manager at Uber’s New York location tracked her location, without her permission. The journalist travelled in an Uber car to the company’s New York office for an interview with General Manager Josh Mohrer. When she got out of the vehicle, Mohrer was waiting for her and said that he was tracking her location, according to Buzzfeed. A few months before, he emailed the journalist logs of her Uber usage, again without her approval.
The ride sharing app has a “God View” tool that lets employees view the location of the users who have requested a ride and the location of Uber vehicles. This information is available to corporate employees, but not contractors, two former employees told Buzzfeed.
Since the article was published, Uber has said the Mohrer was disciplined, but details of the action taken were not made public. The company also published its privacy policy, which states, “Uber has a strict policy prohibiting all employees at every level from accessing a rider or driver’s data. The only exception to this policy is for a limited set of legitimate business purposes.”
Unfortunately, this might not be the first time the company has accessed a user’s Uber history without their permission. Entrepreneur and former venture capitalist, Peter Sims, blogged about an experience where his whereabouts were unknowingly shown publicly for attendees at the Uber Chicago launch party. He was notified by someone who was at the party and who texted him to verify his location.
The company has recently faced a wave of bad press. Buzzfeed reported that one of the senior executives at the company suggested that the company hire private investigators to find and share negative intelligence about media critics. The executive later said that he thought those comments were a part of an off the record conversation and that he regretted what he said.
Uber is currently facing an injunction in Toronto and a hearing has been set for May of next year.
Issues about privacy and whether information from social media can be used in litigation have been raised since social media sites have gained popularity. General Mills faced public backlash after it revised its online privacy policy, which later saw the company reinstate its original policy.
Whenever you use any service, it’s important to read a company’s privacy policy or their terms of service before making a purchase. Accident benefits are available to anyone involved in a motor vehicle accident regardless of their role in the accident. The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been dealing with all accident related issues throughout Ontario for over 45 years. We know how to get you the compensation that you deserve and get your life back in order after being in a car accident. Call us at 416-920-4242, set up a free consultation, and come speak with us.
Greg Neinstein
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