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Portland finds Uber used 'Greyball' to evade 16 authorities
Portland is done investigating Uber's use of the infamous 'Greyball' tool in the city. The results? According to Reuters, authorities have discovered that the ride-hailing service used the software to prevent 16 of the city's regulators from booking rides. It also ignored and canceled 29 ride requests by city transportation enforcers. Uber's Greyball scheme first came to light when The New York Times revealed in March that it has a tool that can block known authorities from booking rides and even seeing if there are cars available in the area. The service used that tool to be able to operate in areas where it had no permission to do so, including Portland, Boston, Paris and Las Vegas.
Reuters: DOJ investigates Uber 'greyballing' scheme
Uber has to tell the feds how Greyball works and where exactly it was deployed now that it's facing a criminal probe over the controversial tool. According to Reuters, the Department of Justice has issued the ride-hailing firm a subpoena from a Northern California grand jury asking for documents that can answer those questions, indicating the beginning of a criminal investigation. The company used Greyball to prevent regulators from grabbing a ride in locations where the service operated without permission. Uber confirmed its existence and its questionable use of the tool after The New York Times exposed it in March.
Uber promises it won't 'Greyball' law enforcement anymore
Nearly a week after a New York Times report exposed Uber's use of an internal tool to target and mislead local authorities the company says it's "expressly prohibiting its use to target action by local regulators going forward." According to Uber's post, the "Greyball" tool is not just for targeting officials and has been used for other purposes like testing new features or marketing promotions. It also says that enforcing this new prohibition will take some time, so local regulators trying to keep an eye on Uber in their town should still be wary. In fact, the company says it has "started a review" of the ways the tech has been used, so it's hard to say if these changes will be enough. At a time when Uber's reputation is taking hit after hit, a little transparency and honesty might go a long way.
Uber used 'Greyball' tool to evade authorities around the world
Saying this week could've gone better for Uber is a massive understatement. After its SVP resigned over undisclosed sexual harassment investigations and its CEO argued with one of the company's own drivers for complaining about its lower pay, Friday might have seemed like the end of a long few days. It wasn't. The New York Times just released a report revealing Uber's years-long clandestine program to deceive authorities from across the globe.
