Uber admits to using anti-phishing software to evade regulators

Uber has been in the news lately: accused of stealing Google's driverless technology, ignoring workplace sexual harassment complaints for a long time, and its president swearing at a driver...

Recently, the media revealed that in the "cat and mouse game" with the regulatory authorities, Uber secretly used an anti-"phishing" program to evade investigation and evidence from the transportation regulatory authorities. Uber later admitted the existence of the program.

【Anti-phishing】

The New York Times reported on the 3rd, citing four former and current Uber employees as sources, that Uber has a secret program nicknamed "Grayball". It can judge whether the person who calls for a ride is a "fishing" law enforcement officer based on the large amount of data Uber accumulates on a daily basis, and "cancel" the ride request of those who are identified as "fishing".

The report said that the use of "Gray Ball" was approved by Uber's legal department, and Uber "secretly" used this program in many cities and countries including Boston and Las Vegas in the United States, Paris, France, Australia, Italy, China and South Korea.

Uber acknowledged the existence of the "gray ball" on the same day. However, according to Uber, the purpose of the "gray ball" is to protect drivers and it is "rarely" used to evade law enforcement inspections.

Uber said the app “denies ride requests from scammers who violate our terms of service,” including “attempts to physically harm drivers, competitors who want to disrupt our business, or competitors who are colluding with government officials to defraud drivers.”

Uber declined to disclose which cities it used the anti-phishing program, saying only that it used Grey Ball in some cities where local authorities had not banned Uber from operating.

【Controversy continues】

As one of the well-known companies in the concept of "sharing economy", Uber's market value is estimated to have reached 68 billion US dollars. However, many countries and regions have not yet issued laws and regulations to regulate the behavior of private cars carrying passengers. Some cities have banned Uber's operations, and the taxi industry around the world has resisted Uber's "invasion" of the market, and some regions have even experienced violent incidents.

In recent times, Uber has been accused of plagiarizing technology, and has been accused of improper management and bad work style, and its image has been repeatedly damaged.

In mid-February, Susan Fowler, an engineer who left Uber at the end of last year, accused Uber management of ignoring complaints from female employees about sexual harassment and a culture of sexism on social media. Uber co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick subsequently apologized.

On February 23, Waymo, the driverless car company under Google's parent company Alphabet, filed a lawsuit in a San Francisco court, accusing Uber and its subsidiary Otto of stealing trade secrets about autonomous driving technology.

On February 28, Kalanick was riding in a car driven by an Uber driver. When the driver complained about a sudden drop in Uber's fare standards, Kalanick cursed him violently. The video captured by the dashcam was made public by Bloomberg. Kalanick later apologized and said, "As a leader, I must fundamentally change and grow up."

Uber was previously accused of exaggerating its revenue expectations to attract more drivers. On January 19 this year, Uber agreed to pay $20 million to reach a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.