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Uber Defends Privacy Practices After Allegations It Spies On Riders (cnbc.com)
Uber is defending the scope of its privacy practices after a wide-ranging report alleged employees were tracking individual riders. From a CNBC report: "We have hundreds of security and privacy experts working around the clock to protect our data," Uber told "Reveal" in a statement. Additionally, Uber told CNBC that it is continuing to increase its security investments. The company pointed to workers that needed data for their roles, such as anti-fraud experts, or employees that validate driver insurance documents or investigate traffic incidents. "It's absolutely untrue that 'all' or 'nearly all' employees have access to customer data, with or without approval," Uber said. "We have built [an] entire system to implement technical and administrative controls to limit access to customer data to employees who require it to perform their jobs. This could include multiple steps of approval -- by managers and the legal team -- to ensure there is a legitimate business case for providing access." According to legal documents filed by ex-employee Ward Spangenberg in October and reported by The Center for Investigative Reporting on Monday, "Uber's lack of security regarding its customer data was resulting in Uber employees being able to track high profile politicians, celebrities, and even personal acquaintances of Uber employees, including ex-boyfriends/girlfriends, and ex-spouses."
I built a shed once. It fell down.
Key point: building X and building X right are not the same thing.
I don't place much faith in "could".
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I'd think twice about using Uber if I were a person with a lot of money or power.
Seems kind of stupid. Rich & powerful people don't even think once about Uber.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
In a sense, this is almost surprising: not because any sane person would expect Uber management to not be a bunch of shitbags; but because companies that take spying on their customers seriously tend to realize that the data they are gathering has value; and jealously guard it from people who aren't paying them for access.
It is...immature...of Uber to be wasting their time on stalker-bro antics when they could be using this sort of pervasive location data collection for all sorts of creepy ad-targeting and consumer profiling stuff, like respectable professionals.
"hundreds of security and privacy experts"
Is it me, or does anyone else have difficulty believing that statement. I work for an F500 doing financial transactions and running the backend for home security companies worldwide... And I don't think we have "hundreds of security and privacy experts".
Uber is one of the scummiest Silicon Valley companies to arise in a long time. Anyone who chooses to use their services gets what they deserve.
seems to me that this is another one of those business practices that would be totally against the law if it were done in an analog world, if a representative of a car service followed you documenting your every location to "help be sure to give you better service when you want a ride" everyone would call BS and they would be out of business or at least severely hampered. Because they do this "on a computer" its somehow just fine and makes them a darling for the VC/Stock market...sick...
This could enable someone to easily kidnap or assisnate VIP people. I'd think twice about using Uber if I were a person with a lot of money or power.
That's probably not that hard for a dedicated psycho to do already.
The more realistic concern might be scandal, troll through the data for a rich VIP who might be having an affair, then blackmail them.
I stole this Sig
This company will face a full audit and investigation when I take office. President-elect of the United States
When all common folk ride fleet cars operated by companies like Uber everywhere they go, the very rich will be the only people to still own cars.
Rich & powerful people don't even think once about Uber.
No, they don't; up here in Aspen and Vail, they use it without thinking at all.
Don't know if there is a connection here but: It states that if I use an app like Uber, the passengers will not be covered during an accident.
The barriers to entry in the taxi business are pretty low, so there will always be competition.
I would feel much safer if Uber didn't have the information in the first place. Despite their damage control spin, they have no legitimate need for it.
Except for that little tidbit of needing to know where to pick you up and drop you off so they know how much to charge you for the ride.
Normal people always forget, yep, you can not be rich without being greedy. They are cheap asses and will always spend as little as possible, unless and only unless, that spending is for bullshit poseur status ie watch me spend a thousand dollars on a bottle of wine (often crap but the coarse idiots can not tell the difference) and then piss it out, really sicking childish moronic stuff but reality. The richer the greedier and that's a fact of life no matter how they try to hide it with (spend big) public relations for false poseur status.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen