For years, Uber has reportedly taken advantage of Greyball, a secret tool used worldwide to deceive authorities in markets where its ride-hailing service is rendered illegal by law enforcement or, in some cases, even entirely banned.
That's according to the New York Times, which reports that Greyball takes advantage of data culled from the Uber app itself, among other techniques, to identify and circumvent local officials. Uber takes advantage of Greyball in U.S. cities as well, including Boston and Las Vegas. The tactic was also applied to operations in Paris and in countries such as Australia, China, Italy, and South Korea.
Uber's Greyball Tool
The Greyball program was reportedly approved by the company's legal team, according to the report. Usage continues today, seen by Uber as a ploy to stop consumers from using its service improperly. Such an operation is called violation of terms of service, or VTOS, the purposes of which range from addressing competitors planning to throw a curve along Uber's business or law enforcement looking to catch those violating taxi regulations.
The operation began as early as 2014 and is used primarily outside the United States, according to the New York Times. It began as a way to resume or commence operations in locations where services such as Uber's aren't allowed. To begin, it would appoint a manager in charge of Greyball who could gird a geofence around the locations of regulators — on the lookout for users who open and close the app repeatedly — behavior that might suggest the person is trying to catch Uber in the act.
Fake Cars And Cancelled Trips
The Greyball program was recorded in late 2014, when a code enforcement officer in Portland, Oregon attempted to hail an Uber ride as part of a sting operation. At the time, Uber had just commenced operations in Portland sans any permission from the local government, which later declared the operations illegal. The authorities posed as typical passengers trying to catch a ride.
Little did he and other agents of the sting operation know that the cars populating the app on screen were faux: digital cars on the app didn't even represent real vehicles on the road. When they did manage to hail a car successfully, the drivers quickly cancelled. That was because Uber had "Greyballed" the city officials, imposing such a tag upon them that rendered them unserviceable by Uber's ride-hailing operations so as to veer away from the sting operation.
Moreover, the company also had access to credit card information to determine whether the account was tied to a police credit union, according to the report.
The Greyball program was originally meant to protect drivers from opponents such as taxi companies and unions in other countries, and Uber told the New York Times that such a measure remains the primary use of Greyball.
Uber told The Verge that the program was to deny service to customers that could potentially cause drivers harm.
"Whether that's people aiming to physically harm drivers, competitors looking to disrupt our operations, or opponents who collude with officials on secret 'stings' meant to entrap drivers."
Uber's Increasing Company Woes
The news of Greyball being used to hoodwink city officials come at a time of intense media coverage for Uber's alleged workplace culture, chief of them sexual harassment claims made public by former Uber engineer Susan J. Fowler, whose scathing and lengthy blog post revealed a dysfunctional HR department who ignored and downplayed repeated instances of sexual harassment.
It's also currently jostling with legal troubles after being sued by Google over design theft allegations.
Most recently, Travis Kalanick, the company's CEO, was caught on video arguing with an Uber driver about business decision that have hurt its original drivers, with Kalanick calling the driver's claims as "bullshit" and accusing him of blaming Uber for his ails.
"I know that you aren't going to go far," the driver told Kalanick, capping off the heated exchange.
