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How Uber Used Secret “Greyball” Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide

nytimes.com

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Re: How Uber Used Secret “Greyball” Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide

#11

Post by JamilD »

oculusthrift wrote: post #8

I'm not excusing Uber at all because what they've done is extremely bad in multiple cases but find it strange all these hit pieces are coming out of the wood works. There is a large section of society that hates Uber and will spring at any chance to bring it down. Which is partially what I think happened with the whole #boycottUber thing and the new video of kalanick yelling at the driver. However, the sexism and dys…

People generally feel more empowered to call out a company when others do.

It's not so much about the media piling on Uber, as employees feeling safe in talking about their company's problems.

Re: How Uber Used Secret “Greyball” Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide

#13

Post by tantalor »

Dangeranger wrote: post #4

Are there legal grounds here for a court decision against Uber based on this? I suppose the answer depends on the nation or state in which this tactic was deployed. This behavior doesn't surprise me based on their strategy of negotiation regarding regulation.

Speculating: possibly they may be safe if their TOS prohibits using the service to ticket drivers, which is not the intended purpose of the service. Courts have generally been kind to private company's TOS.

Re: How Uber Used Secret “Greyball” Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide

#15

Post by mattmanser »

tantalor wrote: post #13
Dangeranger wrote: post #4

Are there legal grounds here for a court decision against Uber based on this? I suppose the answer depends on the nation or state in which this tactic was deployed. This behavior doesn't surprise me based on their strategy of negotiation regarding regulation.

Speculating: possibly they may be safe if their TOS prohibits using the service to ticket drivers, which is not the intended purpose of the service. Courts have generally been kind to private company's TOS.

Which courts? US ones are you talking globally?

Re: How Uber Used Secret “Greyball” Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide

#17

Post by colemickens »

oculusthrift wrote: post #8

I'm not excusing Uber at all because what they've done is extremely bad in multiple cases but find it strange all these hit pieces are coming out of the wood works. There is a large section of society that hates Uber and will spring at any chance to bring it down. Which is partially what I think happened with the whole #boycottUber thing and the new video of kalanick yelling at the driver. However, the sexism and dys…

Comments like this confuse me. Are you accusing the author of fabricating facts? Do you contest the facts or testimonies in the article? What is the justification for calling this a "hit piece"? Did you actually read it?

Why is it surprising that a company under the spotlight... winds up with more journalistic investigations?

Re: How Uber Used Secret “Greyball” Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide

#18

Post by dvcc »

At first, I considered it more clever than anything. Using data to reduce ticketable-offenses for their drivers (in an undeniably unethical way). However, my view quickly soured when I read:

> If those clues were not enough to confirm a user’s identity, Uber employees would search social media profiles and other available information online.

For some reason, I make a mental distinction between some automated system blocking access and having employees research potential customers online for a ride-share app. The bad PR week for Uber continues.

Re: How Uber Used Secret “Greyball” Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide

#19

Post by zymhan »

HorizonXP wrote: post #6

How diabolical! In a world where privacy has been traded away for convenience, it's poetic justice where a startup uses data mining techniques to subvert the government. This is the same government that would have no issues to use the same techniques to spy on its own people for its own motives. I'm neither on Uber nor the government's side in this case, just simply making an observation. The lack of data privacy see…

Yeah, while I'm outraged that Uber would go to such lengths to deceive the government, and by extension the people, there's certainly a bit of schadenfreude here.

Re: How Uber Used Secret “Greyball” Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide

#20

Post by derefr »

oculusthrift wrote: post #8

I'm not excusing Uber at all because what they've done is extremely bad in multiple cases but find it strange all these hit pieces are coming out of the wood works. There is a large section of society that hates Uber and will spring at any chance to bring it down. Which is partially what I think happened with the whole #boycottUber thing and the new video of kalanick yelling at the driver. However, the sexism and dys…

My running hypothesis is that many journalists have found "dirt" on various companies or individuals, and have written it up as ready-to-release hit pieces... and then let it sit, because it currently goes against the sociopolitical zeitgeist. The moment anyone or anything becomes disliked, all these pre-written stories get published.
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