Uber—Uber employees used 'God View' tool to track riders without consent including celebrities and ex-girlfriends
Uber employees used internal 'God View' tool to track riders and celebrities without consent from 2014-2016. Tool showed location of Uber vehicles and customers who requested cars and was widely available to corporate employees. Employees used it to spy on ex-girlfriends, track politicians and celebrities including Beyoncé. In November 2014, Uber's New York General Manager Josh Mohrer tracked BuzzFeed reporter Johana Bhuiyan to greet her at arrival. In 2011 incident, attendee at Uber Chicago launch party tracked venture capitalist Peter Sims' movements displayed on large public screen. Senator Al Franken expressed concerns in November 2014. Uber settled with New York Attorney General for $20,000 fine in January 2016 and with FTC in August 2017, agreeing to 20 years of privacy audits.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surveillance Technology | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.993 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.66)
Evidence (2 signals)
Uber fined $20,000 by New York Attorney General over God View tracking
New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman reached settlement with Uber requiring $20,000 fine for failure to provide notice of data breach disclosed in February 2015. Under agreement, Uber must keep location data in password-protected system, encrypt data in transit, employ approval process and technical controls limiting access to location data to employees with legitimate business need.
BuzzFeed investigation revealed Uber's God View tool used to track riders without consent
BuzzFeed News investigation revealed Uber employees used internal God View tool to track riders and celebrities without consent. Tool showed location of Uber vehicles and customers who requested cars and was widely available to corporate employees. In November 2014, Uber's New York General Manager Josh Mohrer tracked reporter Johana Bhuiyan to greet her at arrival. Employees used it to spy on ex-girlfriends, track politicians and celebrities including Beyoncé.