Uber

Financial performance

Main article: Uber's financial performance

History

2025: Former Uber information security director Joe Sullivan gets deadline for data breach of 57 million service customers

In mid-March 2025, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the verdict against former Uber information security chief Joe Sullivan. The process is associated with the leakage of a huge array of personal data of service customers and drivers. Read more here.

2023: Yandex completed the consolidation of Yandex Taxi, paying Uber $702.5 million for a stake in the joint venture

In April 2023, Yandex completed the consolidation of Yandex Taxi, paying Uber $702.5 million for a stake in the joint venture. The companies went to this deal for several years.

The global strategy of the company as a whole is to shake up all assets - in an investor presentation back in 2022, the company showed that it is leaving some projects that it no longer considers priority, and reinvests in other ideas. For example, the company has sold its drone division to Aurora Innovation Inc, cycling startup Jump, UberEats India and a number of other services in recent years.

2022

Payment of $14 million for deceiving customers

On December 7, 2022, the Federal Court Australia fined Uber 21 million (the Australian dollars approximately $14 million) for deceiving customers and violating consumer law.

According to the case file, the Australian division of the American taxi ride service misled users. This was expressed in the fact that between 2017 and 2021, Uber issued false warnings that customers would be charged to cancel some trips. In addition, an incorrect software algorithm was used to calculate the cost of trips - until August 2020, the price in some cases turned out to be too high for customers.

Uber to pay $14 million to defraud customers

The Uber proceedings were initiated in April 2022 at the request of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The case file says that unreliable reports of travel cancellation fees could have prompted some users to decide not to give up calling a taxi. In addition, incorrect fare estimates meant that customers were effectively deprived of the ability to accurately estimate the cost of services and make an informed choice decision. transport

More than 2 million users of the service in Australia could potentially suffer from Uber's actions. The taxi service was expected to face a fine of A $26 million, but the final recovery was lower. Of the total amount of 3 million Australian dollars, there will be a fine for providing inaccurate information, another 18 million - compensation for violating Uber's own rules on the possibility of free cancellation of an order made within a certain period of time. In addition, the decision provides for reimbursement of legal costs. Uber has already apologized to the affected users and announced the necessary changes to its services.^[1]

Uber pushed drivers to participate in protests in the interests of the company around the world

On July 11, 2022, a major leak of confidential files revealed internal details of how tech giant Uber broke laws, defrauded police, used brutality against drivers and secretly lobbied governments during its global expansion.

An unprecedented leak of more than 124,000 files from Uber showed ethically dubious practices that contributed to the company's transformation into one of Silicon Valley's most notorious export products.

Uber pushed drivers to participate in protests in the interests of the company around the world

The documents - "Uber Files" - were obtained by The Guardian newspaper and shared with 43 other information partners. The files contain emails, text messages, company presentations and other documents from 2013 to 2017, when Uber, under co-founder Travis Kalanick, freely operated in cities against local laws and regulations, evading taxes and seeking to subjugate, above all, the taxi industry as well as labor activists.

data During a heated global backlash on Uber, they show how the company tried to win support by quietly courting prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs and media leaders.

Uber executives have also sought to deflect questions about the company's aggressive tax evasion strategies by volunteering to help host countries collect income taxes owed to drivers, documents show.

Uber's files also show that the company's use of "stealth" technology to prevent government investigations was much larger than previously reported. Company executives activated a so-called "switch" to shut down access to the company's servers and prevent authorities from seizing evidence during raids on Uber offices in at least six countries, according to leaked documents.

Uber, in connection with the leak information , acknowledged "mistakes and misses," but said the company had transformed since 2017 under current CEO Dar Khosrowshahi.

{{quote 'We do not and are not going to justify the previous state of affairs, which is clearly contrary to our current values,' the statement said. On the contrary, we urge the public to assess us on what we have done over the last five years and what we will do in the coming years^[2] }}

Plan for exiting the capital of a joint venture with Yandex

Uber plans to withdraw from the capital of a joint venture (JV) with Yandex as soon as possible in connection with the events in Ukraine. This became known on March 1, 2022. The American company owns a 29 percent stake in the joint venture, the cost of which is estimated at about $800 million. Read more here.

Buying a service for renting private cars Car Next Door

On January 20, 2022, Uber announced the acquisition to Car Next Door give passengers an option for rides less suitable for car sharing. The deal builds on Uber's ongoing investments in, electric vehicles micromobiles and public transportation to reduce over-reliance on personal and transport help create greener, more livable cities, the press release said. More. here

2021

Yandex bought Uber shares in Yandex.Eda, Yandex.Lavka, Yandex.Delivery and unmanned vehicles for $1 billion

On December 21, 2021, Yandex"" announced the closure of the transaction to buy out Uber shares in services Yandex.Food"," Yandex.Lavka"," "Yandex.Delivery as well as in the division Yandex Self-Driving Group engaged in the development of technologies for. self-driving cars The total amount of these transactions amounted to $1 billion, of which $800 million had already been paid in September 2021, and the remaining $200 million was received by Uber after about three months. More. here

Purchase of logistics software developer Transplace for $2.25 billion

In mid-July 2021, it became known that Uber Freight, a logistics business spun off from Uber in 2018, acquired Transplace for about $2.25 billion from private equity group TPG Capital, according to official regulatory filings. The deal, which was announced on July 22, 2021, involves the acquisition of Uber shares in the amount of $750 million, and the rest will be paid in cash. Read more here.

Fine for refusing to disclose data on 6 thousand cases of sexual harassment

In mid-July 2021, Uber Technologies was fined for refusing to disclose data on 6,000 cases of sexual harassment. During the negotiations, the company reached an agreement with the California regulator, promising to provide anonymous data, and the fine was reduced from $59 million to $150 thousand. However, Uber should also transfer $9 million to the California Violence Victims Fund and help create industry safety and reporting standards.

We were able to reach an agreement that will keep our clients confidential and help victims of sexual assault, "said Tony West, Uber's chief lawyer, in a statement.

Uber received a fine for refusing to disclose data on 6 thousand cases of sexual harassment

California's CPUC regulator fined Uber in December 2020 when the company refused to provide details about the victims, including full names and contact information, arguing it would violate their right to privacy. The dispute that ensued was related to a safety report released by Uber in December 2019, which contained information about 6,000 cases of sexual harassment while using the company's services in the United States in 2017 and 2018.

That report was supposed to convince drivers and the public that Uber was serious about safety but brought the company to the attention of regulators. Rival company Lyft promised to draw up a similar report, but first decided to wait for the regulator's decision on this case.

In an agreement proposed by Uber, the anti-sexual assault group will receive anonymous data on past incidents of assaults related to the company's operations. Going forward, Uber will also provide anonymous data, but victims will be able to choose for themselves whether to accept the CPUC regulator's help. The same rules would apply to the rest of the companies operating in California, including Lyft.^[3]

Launch your organization to create Open Source mobile software development tools

In early March 2021, the Linux Foundation launched the Mobile Native Foundation, designed to encourage the creation of open source tools for mobile application development. Read more here.

Buying online alcoholic beverage retailer Drizly for $1.1 billion

In early February 2021, Uber announced the purchase of online alcoholic beverage retailer Drizly. The transaction value is $1.1 billion. After the merger, Drizly will become a division of Uber, and delivery of its goods will be available using the Uber Eats food delivery service. At the same time, Drizly will also retain its online store and its own mobile application. Read more here.

2020

Sale of Elevate flying taxi division to Joby Aviation

In early December 2020, Uber sold its Elevate flying taxi division to California electric aircraft developer Joby Aviation. However, the companies describe their deal as a "new way of partnership," since under the agreement Uber will also invest $75 million in Joby Aviation. Read more here.

Sale of Uber Advanced Technologies Group to Aurora Innovation

On December 7, 2020, Uber announced the sale of its Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) division to Aurora Innovation, a self-driving car software company. Read more here.

Purchase of software developer Routematch Software

In mid-July 2020, Uber Technologies acquired Routematch Software to accelerate the development of an autonomous roadmap and enter new markets related to public transport. Uber does not disclose the financial terms of the deal. Read more here.

Purchase of Postmates for $2.65 billion

In early July 2020, Uber announced the acquisition of Postmates for $2.65 billion. Negotiations continued for four years, but only now did Uber's board approve the deal. Read more here.

Mikhail Fridman sold his stake in Uber. She made a loss

On June 8, 2020, it became known about the withdrawal of LetterOne from Uber's capital. Mikhail Fridman's investment company in February sold its stake in the taxi ordering service for $173 million, while three years earlier it invested $200 million in the startup. Read more here.

Lay off another 3,000 employees

In mid-May 2020, it became known that Uber is laying off another 3,000 employees, and is also closing 45 offices amid the coronavirus pandemic. Not long before that, the company announced the liquidation of 3,700 working positions in order to reduce costs by $1 billion. As a result, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the taxi ordering service has reduced its staff by about 25%.

I had to make that decision because our future demands it. Our company is needed by millions of people and businesses that rely on us, "Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told employees. - We must establish ourselves as a self-sustaining enterprise that no longer depends on new capital or investors for further growth, expansion and innovation.

Uber headcount shrinks by 25%

As part of the layoffs, Uber is expected to pay employees up to $145 million in severance pay and other benefits, as well as up to $80 million due to office closures. At the same time, the layoffs do not concern drivers who are considered not employees, but independent contractors.

According to the company, the number of trips during the pandemic decreased by about 80%. But the food delivery service was in great demand. In the first quarter, Uber Eats noted significant growth: the service earned $4.68 billion, that is, 52% more than in the same quarter a year ago.

Although the Eats service is growing and expanding, alone it cannot cover all our expenses, Khosrowshahi commented on the situation. - I have every reason to believe that the measures we are taking will make the Eats service one of the most profitable divisions of the company, but this is unlikely to happen overnight.

In a restructuring effort, Uber is shutting down Incubator's service less than a year after its launch. The company is also closing AI Labs and looking for alternatives to Uber Works, an Uber service launched in October 2019.^[4]

Uber fires one in five employees

At the end of April 2020, it became known about the dismissal of up to 5400 Uber employees. In the worst-case scenario, the company's headcount could be cut by 20% out of 27,000 people. Due to these measures, the taxi ordering service expects to save up to $1 billion.

As you might expect, the company is considering all possible scenarios that will allow us to survive the crisis and become even stronger after it than before, Uber said, commenting on the planned layoffs.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Uber's core business has contracted by 20% of its usual volume, Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi told analysts at the end of March 2020. According to analysts cited by Business Insider, the real decline in business volumes can be much larger and reach 94%. However, even if Uber's revenues remain at the level of spring 2020 until December, according to Khosrowshahi, the company will still have cash in the amount of about $4 billion. The cuts will save another billion.

To offset the losses, Uber relies heavily on the Uber Eats food delivery service, which developed rapidly and became the company's main source of income even before the global downturn caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. An Uber spokesman said food delivery orders in the Seattle area (one of the hardest-hit U.S. cities) increased 10-fold from pre-crisis times.

The online publication The Information, the first to talk about the cuts at Uber, also announced the resignation of technical director Thuan Pham, who has worked for the company since 2013. Thus, during the crisis, the company was left without a technical director, chief operating officer and marketing director.^[5]

Uber promised compensation for drivers infected with coronavirus, but lied

In mid-March 2020, the British drivers' union United Private Hire Drivers (UPHD) reported that Uber had deprived all drivers infected with the promised compensation. coronavirus

Earlier, on March 7, Uber promised that drivers diagnosed with COVID-19 will receive sick pay for 14 days. To do this, drivers need to present special documents, that is, confirmation of a licensed medical provider or public health authorities about the diagnosis of COVID-19 or an order for self-isolation. Uber claimed it would provide financial assistance to its drivers worldwide.

However, the British private drivers union claims that it will be difficult for British drivers to prove that they are sick with coronavirus. According to the instructions of the government, they should independently isolate themselves if they suspect coronavirus instead of contacting the health services, so it will be almost impossible to obtain such documentation.

Uber is likely to change the requirements for paying disability sheets in different countries, but so far the company has not commented directly on the statement of British drivers.

We support drivers and couriers who find themselves sick with COVID-19 or quarantined by state health authorities. In such situations, drivers and couriers will receive compensation for up to 14 days. We have already begun to compensate in some markets and are working to create mechanisms that will allow this to be done around the world.

The chairman of the British union, James Farrar, a former Uber driver, insists that the government and licensing authorities such as Transport for London should intervene in such a situation.^[6]

2019

German work ban

At the end of December 2019, the Frankfurt District Court banned Uber from operating in Germany due to a lawsuit filed by local taxi service Taxi Deutschland.

In Germany, Uber works exclusively with private ride-hailing companies whose drivers and cars have the necessary licenses and permits to carry passengers. The court ruled that such a model violates the rules of fair competition and in order to carry out its services, Uber must itself obtain a license to rent cars.

Frankfurt court bans Uber from working in Germany

The court's decision took effect immediately after the ruling. Uber may appeal the Frankfurt court ruling but has refrained from commenting by December 2019.

According to Reuters, the plaintiff in this case, Taxi Deutschland, said that if Uber does not change the business model, then the company will face a fine of 250 euros per trip or up to 250,000 euros for repeated violations.

In Germany, Uber services were previously available in Berlin Frankfurt Munich and a number of other German cities. In general, service services can be ordered in 63 countries and more than 700 cities. Uber's service serves more than 90 million active users.

We will assess the court's decision and determine the next steps in order to continue to provide our services in Germany, - said an Uber spokesman. - We tried to become a reliable partner, working with licensed car rental operators and their professional drivers.

In 2015, Germany became one of the first countries to restrict Uber's activities - then the court ruled that the service can only work with drivers who have special licenses.

Due to the conclusion of the European Court of Justice in 2017, the company has significantly changed its model of work in the EU. So, instead of using many independent drivers, as is customary in the same North America, Uber enters into exclusive contracts with private services that have licensed drivers and cars.^[7]

Ban in Colombia

In late December 2019, Uber was banned in Colombia after the company was accused of unfair competition. Thus, the taxi ordering service was outlawed in another country.

The lawsuit against Uber was filed by the Colombian taxi service Cotech. The court concluded that the American company violated market rules by providing customers with services using a mobile application.

In Colombia, Uber banned after the company was accused of unfair competition

This creates a significant advantage in the market and takes away customers from the national company Cotech, - said the Colombian Department of Industry and Trade (SIC).

The new SIC ruling prohibits BV, Uber Technologies INC and Uber Colombia SAS Uber companies from providing taxi services to individuals through Uber's mobile app in the country. SIC CEO Andres Barreto stressed that the restriction does not apply to other Uber services, such as Uber Eats food delivery. In Colombia, Uber has more than 2.3 million active users and about 88,000 driver partners (as of December 2019).

The decision reflects the actions of Colombian censorship and violates the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights, which should stop attempts to block Uber because they violate the law on freedom of expression and freedom of the Internet, Uber said in a statement.

This is not the first collision between Uber and the Colombian state apparatus: in August 2019, Uber was fined more than $629,000, as company representatives obstructed the check and did not follow SIC orders.

Earlier, Uber was similarly banned in Germany due to a lawsuit by the local taxi service Taxi Deutschland. Since in Germany the company worked only with car rental services, the court ruled that this model violates the rules of fair competition.^[8]

6 thousand complaints of sexual violence and hundreds of rapes

In early December, Uber released its first report on ride safety. According to the company, in 2017-2018, she only in the United States received about 6 thousand complaints of sexual harassment of varying degrees, and in half of the cases the violators were not drivers, but passengers. There were also 464 reports of rape and 587 of attempted rape.

The statistics were compiled based on the statements of drivers, so there could be more incidents if you consider that not everyone stated this. Uber says that mostly harassment was manifested in unwanted kissing or touching.

Uber statistics not the safest taxi in the US

Despite the fact that the number of complaints about sexual crimes increased in 2018, their share decreased by 16% due to the increase in the number of trips, the report notes.

It follows from other sad statistics that 107 passengers died in a taxi in two years. At the same time, the overwhelming number of deaths occurred in cities - 90%.

Another 17 people died due to the attacks. Almost a third of fatal accidents involved pedestrians. The company stressed that more than 99.9% of all trips ended well.

In its report, Uber promised to pay great attention to improving safety, including strengthening control over driver admission, the work of a special service for receiving complaints and responding to them.

The company urged all customers to actively use not only the company's services, but also emergency services to respond in a timely manner to any attempted assault or harassment in a taxi.

When a harassment report is received, Uber immediately closes access to the perpetrator to use the service and begins checking. It is also planned to add an alarm button in the application, which allows you to immediately seek help in the event of an attack.^[9]

Uber kicked out of London

On November 25, 2019, the Transport for London (TfL) announced its refusal to renew Uber's license, as a result of which the taxi ordering service will have to cease operations in the British capital. On this news, the company's shares fell 6.5% in price.

The regulator revealed several violations in Uber's work that jeopardize the safety of passengers. This was the reason for the refusal to issue a new license to the company.

Transport for London (TfL) announced its refusal to renew the license Uber, as a result of which the taxi ordering service will have to cease operations in the British capital

Despite addressing some of these issues, TfL has no certainty that similar issues will not arise in the future, leading to the conclusion that the company is not currently ready and fit to be licensed, the Transport Authority said in a statement.

Among the possible risks for customers, the department included the Uber system, which allows unregistered drivers to upload their own photos to other drivers' accounts and thereby accept orders. According to TfL, at least 14 thousand trips were made in this way. The regulator also said that "Uber's systems are relatively easy to intervene with."

Uber, in turn, called the decision of the British authorities extraordinary and wrong.

London is one of the key markets for Uber, in this city the company operates with about 45 thousand licensed drivers of the company (data for November 2019).

Previously, Uber worked in London under a temporary license, which had to be constantly renewed. So, at the end of September 2019, TfL issued a license to the company for a period of two months and promised to carefully monitor the company's activities. Uber has not been granted a permanent permit to operate in London since 2017 because of the regulator's ongoing concerns about passenger safety.^[10]

Purchase of food delivery service Cornershop

In October 2019, Uber announced its acquisition of Cornershop. The financial component of the agreement was not disclosed by the company. The deal is scheduled to close in early 2020 after approval by regulators. Checks will be held in Chile and Mexico. Read more here.

Creating an "operating system for everyday use"

In late September 2019, Uber announced that the company was merging its ride-hailing and food delivery apps, adding many new safety features, empowering alternative modes of transportation such as bicycles, scooters and public transportation, and preparing to participate in the development of a "virtual restaurant" in addition to dozens of other products. As Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi clarified, with the help of such changes, the company intends to create "its own operating system for everyday use."

Uber held a major presentation of the new app in San Francisco on September 26, 2019, but Khosrowshahi was interviewed before that to explain why the company is making global and costly changes at exactly the moment when it is suffering huge monetary losses and facing uncomfortable safety questions, not to mention a slew of lawsuits across the country.

Uber creates its own OS

We live not only in the digital sphere, but in the real world all kinds of difficulties arise, "Khosrowshahi said. - But the solution to this problem always lies in an attempt to answer one question: how to make us a constructive element of every person's life?

The answer was an updated application. Now, when it is launched, instead of a map with moving cars and a search bar, the user will be asked to first decide what he needs - to order a car or food from the restaurant. Subsequently, the number of services available will increase.

Uber also spoke about several new safety features, including a 4-digit PIN-based verification system that will need to be informed to the driver before starting the trip. In addition, users can now report any incidents that occurred during the trip to Uber support - inappropriate driver behavior, long stop, wrong route, and so on.^[11]

Reduction of 8% of the state

On September 10, 2019, Uber announced a new round of layoffs. This time, the company is cutting 435 jobs or 8% of the state. A few months earlier, the taxi ordering service announced the liquidation of about 400 work positions in the marketing division.

According to TechCrunch, the layoffs announced on September 10, 2019 affected 265 employees from the design and technical department and 170 employees from the development department. About 85% of them live in the United States, 10% in the Asia-Pacific region, the rest in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Loss-making Uber is laying off employees again. This time - 8% of the state

The decrease in headcount followed after Uber reported a major loss of $5.2 billion in the second quarter of 2019. A year earlier, cash losses were measured at $878 million. True, such a rapid rise is caused by the allocation of $3.9 billion to compensate for expenses related to the initial offering procedure (IPO).

In August 2019, Uber announced a ban on hiring new software developers and product managers, but in September, despite the reduction of hundreds of workers, the company announced the lifting of this freeze. Uber made the following statement on the mass layoffs:

We hope these changes will result in a reset and an improvement in our day-to-day operations. Without undue hesitation, we prioritize and always hold ourselves accountable for the high bar of performance and flexibility. While this [job cuts] is certainly painful at the moment, especially for those directly affected, we believe it will lead to a much stronger tech organization that will continue to hire the best people in the world in the future.[12]

Drivers in Colombia stripped of 25-year license for Uber job

In August 2019, it became known that the Colombian authorities punish drivers with deprivation of their rights for 25 years for working for Uber.

Uber has been operating in Colombia since 2013. Although the company does not have permission to provide services in the country, it pays taxes. For several years, the authorities have not been able to eliminate this uncertainty regarding such online services and even defend them, despite the massive protests of taxi drivers.

Colombian taxi drivers at a protest against Uber's work in the country

All applications have a presumption of legality, no application can be blocked until there is a legislative or judicial decision, said Colombian Information Technology and Communications Minister David Luna.

Taxi drivers of Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Cartagena and Barranquilla repeatedly staged protests. They are unhappy that Uber is not legalized in the country, and drivers using the service transport people in violation of laws and regulations.

On August 12, 2019, the Colombian trade regulator Supervision of Industry and Commerce (SIC) announced the imposition of a fine on Uber in the amount of $629 thousand for refusing to provide information to the department and open access to the company's computers. In October 2017, SIC employees came to check at Uber's Columbia office. Then the company "demonstrated a disrespectful and obstructionist position regarding the requirements to open access to various data that officials presented," the regulator said in a statement cited by Reuters.

Uber has banned its employees from disclosing any information to SIC. Three workers who directly rejected the regulator's requirements were fined between $1,469 and $7344. In addition, these people "gave evasive and incomplete answers to questions about their positions and functions in the company, as well as their knowledge of the corporate structure of Uber Colombia."^[13]

Buying a developer for self-driving cars

At the end of June 2019, Uber acquired the startup Mighty AI, which for the new owner to develop software for training unmanned vehicles on computer vision models. The transaction is closed, its terms, including financial ones, have not been disclosed. Read more here.

IPO: raising $8.1 billion, capitalization $76 billion

On May 10, 2019, Uber made its initial public offering. At the end of the first day of trading, the company's quotes fell below the IPO price.

Uber set the cost of placing its securities at $45. By the close of the New York Stock Exchange, on which the company's shares are traded, their exchange rate fell by 7.6% to $41.57. The company's market capitalization amounted to $69.71 billion against $76 billion by the opening of the trading platform.

Uber went public. The company was valued at $76 billion

Uber itself and investment banks initially valued the company at $120 billion, but subsequently the valuation was repeatedly revised downward.

We knew we had a difficult day ahead of us, "Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. - The company has experienced many instability in its history. We've always been through them.

Uber's IPO was called the most anticipated in the tech sector after Facebook. However, analysts' forecasts did not materialize. One of the reasons is the general state of the US stock market.

From May 6 to May 10, 2019, the S&P 500 stock index fell 2.2% amid the aggravation of the US-China trade war, which affected all market participants, including Uber.^[14]

As part of the IPO, Uber sold 180 million shares at a price of $45 apiece, as a result of which the taxi ordering service attracted a total of $8.1 billion. This listing entered the top ten largest on the American stock market and became a record since going public. Alibaba

The day before the company's IPO, Uber drivers staged strikes and demonstrations in 14 cities around the world. Employees complained that in the first year of operation, the company takes 75% of the cost of the trip, then 50%. In addition, some drivers are forced to spend the night in cars in city parking lots so as not to waste time on daily trips to work from the suburbs and back.

Uber driver kills UFC fighter after altercation

In April 2019, it became about the death of Brazilian mixed style fighter (MMA) Rodrigo De Lima after a quarrel with an Uber taxi driver. The incident occurred in the city of Belen (Brazil). Read more here.

Girl killed after confusing Uber taxi with another car

In April 2019, Uber introduced new safety measures after the murder of Samantha Josephson, who confused a taxi with another car and got into it. Read more here.

Raising $1 billion for the division of unmanned vehicles

On April 19, 2019, Uber announced that it had raised $1 billion in investments for its self-driving car technology division. As a result of the financial deal, which was attended by technology holding Softbank, automaker Toyota and automotive component manufacturer Denso, Uber Advanced Technologies, was valued at $7.25 billion. Read more here.

Purchase of Arab taxi ordering service Careem Networks for $3.1 billion

On March 26, 2019, Uber Technologies announced the acquisition of Careem Networks for $3.1 billion. With this deal, the buyer will be able to become the dominant player in the Middle East market for online taxi ordering services. Read more here.

2018

Payment of $148 million for attempts to hide a data breach

At the end of September 2018, it became known that Uber agreed to pay a record $148 million in a class action lawsuit, the initiators of which accused the American taxi ordering service of trying to hide the leakage of their customers' data.

Uber will transfer the indicated amount in favor of the budget of 50 US states and the federal District of Columbia.

This record amount should clearly demonstrate: We will not tolerate any disregard for the law and the protection of sensitive information of employees and clients, "said New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

She called Uber's decision to hide the massive data breach "a treacherous betrayal of the public."

The company not only did not keep user data secret, but also did not inform the authorities about the leak. This was done in accordance with corporate policy at that time, "she said.

In addition to paying a monetary fine, Uber has pledged to notify users of a possible leak of their data and made promises to take precautions to protect user information that Uber stores from third parties.

Uber agrees to pay record $148 million for attempts to hide data breach

The company will also hire an independent information security auditor who will regularly check the level of security of tt IT systems and data. Finally, Uber will have to form a policy to ensure the security of all data and take into account all potential risks.

As a result of a hacker attack that occurred in October 2016, attackers stole the names, email addresses and phone numbers of about 57 million Uber users and drivers around the world. The incident became known only a year later, and in connection with the silence of what happened against the company, numerous lawsuits were filed, most of which were subsequently combined into one group. However, some lawsuits initiated by drivers, customers and authorities in Los Angeles and Chicago are still pending in the courts by the end of September 2018.^[15]

Toyota invests $500 million in Uber to develop self-driving cars

On August 27, 2018, the Japanese automotive company Toyota announced an investment of $500 million in Uber Technologies. The money will go to the joint development of unmanned vehicles.

According The Wall Street Journal to the publication, citing informed sources, these cash injections from Toyota will increase the market value of Uber from $62 billion to $72 billion. According to the interlocutors, in 2017 Uber spent $750 million on the development of unmanned vehicles before cutting costs in 2018, when the company stopped testing cars in Arizona, Pittsburgh, Toronto and. San Francisco In addition, at the end of July, Uber closed its self-driving truck development department, concentrating on cars. cars

Toyota to invest $0.5 billion in Uber to develop unmanned vehicles

Toyota plans to produce Sienna minivans with installed software from Uber to put them into taxi service by 2021. So far, Toyota is lagging behind General Motors in this direction, as well as Alphabet Corporation, which with the Waymo project intends to launch the operation of autonomous taxis by the end of 2018.

Toyota and Uber plan to resolve the issue of mass production of self-driving cars for joint fleets, including passenger transportation services.

Uber's director of strategic initiatives development, Jeff Miller, said the partnership "really illustrates how we plan to use self-driving technology in the long term."^[16]

Our goal is to use the world's safest self-driving cars on the Uber network, and this agreement is another significant step towards making this a reality, - quotes the Associated Press as saying Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi

Payment of $34 thousand to employees for sexual harassment

On August 21, 2018, Uber Technologies agreed to pay employees an average of $33 928.57 to victims of sexual harassment. To do this, a taxi ordering service has created a special fund in the amount of $1.9 million.

In total, 56 former and current employees filed a class action lawsuit against the company with allegations of sexual harassment. The scandals surrounding sexual harassment at Uber began in February 2017, when the company's engineer Susan Fowler published a story on her blog about constant sexual harassment at the company.

Uber agreed to pay $34,000 each to employees for sexual harassment

In addition, Uber will create another fund - from it the company will compensate women and other minorities who accuse the service of discrimination according to an October 2017 lawsuit. Employees "complaints of racial discrimination were systematically dismissed by the company's management, an internal investigation found. On August 20, 2018, an Oakland, California court ordered the company to pay three engineers who filed the lawsuit $11,000 each, as well as create a fund of at least $10 million for victims of wage discrimination.

Payments in the harassment claim were calculated depending on the severity and duration of the alleged illegal behavior, the presence of witnesses and documents supporting the plaintiffs' complaints, psychological consequences for the victim and other circumstances. Only the two employees of the company mentioned in the lawsuit refused to make complaints; there were no denials.

The next court hearing on Uber's sexual harassment claims will be held on November 6, 2018. Uber representatives note that the victims agreed with the court decision and considered the amount of compensation fair and reasonable.^[17]

Warren Buffett was going to invest $3 billion in Uber

At the end of May 2018, it became known about Warren Buffett's failed attempt to invest about $3 billion in Uber. The businessman wanted to conclude a deal like the one when he saved Goldman Sachs from collapse during the financial crisis. Read more here.

Uber's return to Barcelona

In March 2018, Uber returned to Barcelona three years after the ban was imposed. According to Agence France-Presse, citing a company representative, the city has launched the UberX service, within which only professional drivers can provide services.

At the end of 2014, the UberPop app was banned in Barcelona after numerous complaints from taxi drivers. The court ruled that the use of the services of unlicensed drivers, which were available under UberPop, is contrary to current law and puts licensed taxi drivers in conditions of unequal competition. At the end of 2017, the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg confirmed that in Europe Uber should be regulated as a taxi company, and not as an application, since services are provided by non-professional drivers.

Uber returns to Barcelona after 3 years of ban

This court decision cannot be appealed, it applies to all 28 EU member states and threatens Uber with tougher regulation of business, higher taxes and changes in driver requirements.

On March 13, 2018, Uber started working again in Barcelona, ​ ​ but only drivers who have received official permission to carry passengers can work with the service. There are about 120 such taxi drivers in Uber by the time the service returns. Instead of UberPop, the UberX app is available in the Catalan capital.

In Spain, the taxi industry is very developed. There are about 70 thousand licensed drivers and 7 thousand cars officially approved for taxi services in the country, despite the fact that the cost of a taxi driver's license costs from 120 thousand to 170 thousand euros. To get it, motorists often have to take out a loan.

Uder drivers have a different type of license - a car with a driver that can be rented. Such a license is noticeably cheaper - from 30 thousand to 40 thousand euros. Hence the taxi drivers "complaints about Uber.^[18]

Uber creates, not eliminates, traffic jams

Taxi  ordering services such as Uber and Lyft are increasing traffic jams in the city, according to research published by Sfgate on February 26, 2018. People are increasingly using taxi services instead of public transport or walking.

One study in Boston in late 2017 found that nearly six in ten people surveyed would prefer to use public transit, ride a bike or walk if they didn't have a taxi ride app. It also turned out that many passengers use online taxis not to get to the metro or bus stop, but instead. Thus, taxi services take passengers from public transport.

Uber doesn't rid cities of traffic jams, it creates them - study

  These studies run counter to promises made by Uber founder Travis Kalanick in 2015 that Boston will have no traffic jams in the next five years.

Another study in December 2017 found that an increase in taxis and ride-sharing services complicates traffic in Manhattan's business center. Sociologists have recommended that police prevent a further rise in the "number of taxis waiting for passengers."

The results of a study conducted in San Francisco in June 2017 showed that on a weekday, drivers of the passenger boarding service make over 170 thousand trips, 12 times more than ordinary taxi drivers, and these trips mainly fall on the busiest transport parts of the city.

These conclusions are confirmed by another report published in October 2017, during which more than 4 thousand people were interviewed in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and other large cities. It turned out that 50-60% of taxi trips would not have taken place if such an opportunity had not existed.

A study in Boston found that the main reason people prefer ride-hailing together is because of speed. Even those with a pass would prefer an online taxi, despite the higher cost.

Two-thirds of commuters use an online taxi service, according to an October 2017 report from the Massachusetts Transportation Authority. And a February 2018 study in San Francisco found that public transit ridership plummeted over the weekend, in part because of proposals from ride-hailing services.   The goal of the online taxi services Lyft and Uber is to reduce the number of car owners and increase the number of taxi passengers separately or in combination with public transport. This is also facilitated by the new ride-hailing service Uber Express Pool, which is a competition for mass passenger transportation.

This service can be used by people traveling in the same direction. They need to walk a little to the place the car will drive to, and then it will take them to their destination - like a bus or subway. The service was first tested in November 2017 in San Francisco and Boston, and it turned out to be in demand around the clock. It was then deployed to other cities.

According to Uber spokesman Alix Anfang, the popularity of the service is explained primarily by the attractive price - the cost of a trip using Express is only a few dollars.^[19]

Yandex and Uber closed a deal to combine online travel ordering businesses

On February 7, 2018, Yandex and Uber announced the closure of a deal to unite online travel ordering businesses in Russia and neighboring countries as part of the newly created company. At the time of closing the transaction, the parties invested $225 million and $100 million in this company, respectively. Taking into account these investments, the cash on the company's balance sheet amounts to $400 million. Thus, it is estimated at more than $3.8 billion. About 59.3% of the company is owned by Yandex, 36.9% by Uber, and 3.8% by employees. Read more here.

Use of software that blocks computers during a search

In January 2018, it became known that Uber several times used a program in its offices around the world called Ripley, which, if necessary, can remotely change passwords and block data on company-owned smartphones, laptops and stationary computers, as well as disable devices.

About 10 tax investigators broke into Uber's Montreal office in May 2015, according to Bloomberg. Authorities believed Uber violated tax laws and obtained a warrant to collect evidence. Witnesses to the event say that managers on the spot already knew what to do.

Uber found a program that blocks computers during a search

Like hundreds of other Uber offices overseas, Canadian employees have been trained to send a message to a number that alerts specially trained staff at the company's San Francisco headquarters. When the call passed, managers quickly remotely logged off the system on each computer in the Montreal office, making it almost impossible for the authorities to obtain company data, for the collection of which a warrant was obtained. Investigators left without any evidence.

From spring 2015 to late 2016 , Uber regularly used the Ripley program - more than 25 times - to disrupt police raids in foreign countries, according to three witnesses familiar with the system.

The command controlling the program could remotely change passwords and block data on different devices, as well as disable them. Initially, this procedure was called the "unexpected visitor protocol." The employees involved believe the program did slow down investigations that were legally sound.

The definition of obstruction of justice varies widely by country, says Ryan Calo, professor of cyber law at the University of Washington  . - But it's clear Uber stuck to a common legal arbitration scheme.[20]

2017

Information about a hacker who received a ransom for deleting data on 57 million users

On December 7, 2017, it became known how and to whom Uber Technologies paid a ransom to delete data on 57 million customers of the service.

According to Reuters, citing three knowledgeable informants, in November 2016, Uber transferred $100,000 to a 20-year-old hacker from Florida (USA) for not disclosing personal information of users. The payment was made through the bug bounty system, which is usually used for small user incentives that indicate the vulnerabilities of the service.

The name of the hacker to whom Uber paid the ransom could not be found out by the news agency. It is also unknown who in the company made the final decision to make this payment and keep the incident about the data leak secret. According to Reuters, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick knew about the theft of data and the transfer of money to attackers. Kalanick was fired in June 2017.

Uber paid hacker $100,000 to keep data leak secret

The incentive program for vulnerabilities found in Uber is located on the HackerOne platform, but the administration of the latter in no way affects the amount of payments.

In all cases, when bug bounty rewards pass through HackerOne, we receive identification information about the recipient on the IRS form W-9 or W-8BEN before the transfer of funds, "said HackerOne head Martin Mickos, adding that these are the rules of American tax legislation.

One of the former HackerOne executives, in a conversation with Reuters, called the $100,000 payment through the bug bounty system "a record for all time." As a rule, premiums range from $5 thousand to $10 thousand.

The interlocutors of the publication say that Uber made a payment to find out the identity of the hacker and then sign a non-disclosure agreement, protecting itself from further blackmail. The company conducted a forensic analysis of the hacker's computer to make sure that the data was deleted.

One interviewee described the cyber-fraudster as someone living in a small house with his mum and trying to make money to pay bills. Uber did not want to pursue the man, making sure he posed no further threat.^[21]

Revealed the fact of creating a department to collect the secrets of competitors

In November 2017, a lawsuit between Uber and Waymo (part of Google) over self-driving car technology took a new turn after a judge hearing the case obtained evidence hidden by Uber that the company had created a department designed to collect information from competitors. It also became known that Uber used systems that encrypted and deleted the corresponding correspondence so that they would not get to court.

Uber has created a department designed to collect information from competitors

The court was provided with a letter written by lawyer Richard Jacobs, a former member of the Uber intelligence group. Waymo lawyer Charles Verhoeven read excerpts from the letter in court:

Jacobs is aware of Uber's use of the MA [Marketplace Analytics] team to steal trade secrets from at least Waymo in the U.S.... The AI department was created directly for the purpose of obtaining trade secrets, a code base and competitive intelligence.

Jacobs testified in court that the MA department used separate servers and message systems, and messages (on a platform called Wickr) were almost instantly deleted in order to destroy any traces that could harm the company in the future.^[22]

A lawsuit was filed over Uber's hiring of former Waymo engineer Anthony Levandowski. Waymo says their former engineer Lewandowski stole 14,000 technical files from the company's servers, and then in early 2016 opened his own transportation company called Otto, which developed unmanned trucks. In August of the same 2016, Uber acquired Otto for $680 million and put Lewandowski at the head of its research on robot cars.

Waymo says Uber used the stolen Lewandowski files to advance its stalled R&D program, desperate to create its own version of the technology that could improve the company's business model.

Ban in Israel

On November 28, 2017, Uber was banned from operating in Israel due to the lack of a passenger license. The ban continued a string of problems for the company, which has faced massive data breaches and restricted operations in other countries.

Uber taxis are scheduled to stop driving in Israel on November 28, 2017, according to a Tel Aviv District Court ruling. UberNIGHT and UberDAY services, which allow private drivers to carry passengers at night and during the daytime, respectively , for compensation for gasoline costs and other travel costs, are also closed in the country.

Uber banned from Israel over lack of passenger licence

Uber was sued by the Israeli Ministry of Transport, the local Taxi Driver Union and rival Gett, which claimed illegal entrepreneurial activity by the American service. In particular, the plaintiffs pointed to Uber's lack of an appropriate passenger license and mandatory insurance.

All taxi drivers in Israel must have licenses to carry passengers, but Uber decided to bypass this requirement by launching online services to find car travelers of sorts. Uber drivers, instead of paying, formally accept from customers an amount equal to the cost of maintaining a car. The company claims that drivers do not profit from such activities.^[23]

Uber announced compliance with the order of the Israeli court, and also expressed the hope that in the near future it will be possible to reach an agreement with the authorities so that the company will resume work in the country. By the end of November 2017, tens of thousands of Israelis were using Uber services every day.

Uber continues to strive to work with the Israeli government, studying how technology can improve cities, making them safe and endowing them with alternative modes of transport, Fortune quoted the company as saying.

Theft of data of 57 million customers and dismissal of information security director

In November 2017, it became known about the theft of data of 57 million Uber customers. The company paid the hackers a ransom so that they would not upload information to the public. As a result of the incident, two top Uber executives were fired, including the director of information security.

According to Bloomberg, the theft of personal information was committed back in October 2016, but for more than a year Uber hid what had happened. In the hands of the attackers were the email addresses and mobile phone numbers of 50 million passengers around the world, as well as data on 7 million taxi drivers, including driver's license numbers.

Hackers steal data of 57 million Uber customers and drivers

The company assures that data on credit cards, travel routes and some other information did not get to hackers.

The cyber attack itself was carried out as follows. First, two attackers gained access to a web service for hosting IT projects and their joint development GitHub, which is used by Uber programmers. Then, thanks to the obtained credentials of the company's employees, hackers gained access to information stored in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, which processed Uber computing tasks. There, hackers found an archive with information about customers and drivers.

Instead of reporting the hack to regulators and drivers, the company paid hackers $100,000 dollars to delete the data and keep everything secret. According to Uber management, the hackers did not take advantage of the information received.

After reports of data theft, two senior Uber employees responsible for responding to the incident were fired - information security director Joe Sullivan and his deputy Craig Clark.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman opened an investigation  into the incident. Uber has also been sued for negligence in customer data. That complaint is expected to eventually become collective, and the company could be fined a hefty amount.^[24]

Regulators in Australia and the Philippines told Reuters about the consideration of the incident, which, as the newspaper notes, can negate all attempts by Uber to resolve all conflict situations with the authorities of Asian countries. Earlier it was reported that Uber was in talks to raise several billion dollars in investments from a consortium led by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank.

Uber fires two top employees after stealing data from millions of users

None of this was going to happen and I'm not going  to seek an excuse. We are changing the rules of doing business, "says Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi. - When this incident occurred, we took immediate steps to ensure data security and stop further unauthorized access of individuals... We identified the hackers and received assurances from them that the uploaded data had been destroyed.

According to him, all information related to the incident, Uber sent to the relevant government authorities. In addition, the company instructed to contact the drivers whose data was stolen.

Uber turned to information security company Mandiant (part of FireEye) to investigate what happened. Uber did not specify who was behind this cyber attack.

According to Reuters sources, a committee on Uber's board of directors, following its own investigation of the incident, found out that former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was not involved in hiding the hack. Kalanick resigned in June 2017 after a series of scandals, including one involving sexual harassment.

The New York Times, referring to its informants, writes that Travis Kalanick personally gave permission to pay hackers a ransom of $100,000 and conceal information. But Bloomberg at Uber said Kalanick found out about what happened a month after the hack. The ex-head of the company himself declined to comment.

It becomes very rare for hackers to pay a ransom, however, as Reuters was told in the US FBI and several private information security firms, more and more companies prefer to pay cybercriminals to delete stolen data.

Purchase of 24 thousand unmanned vehicles Volvo

On November 20, 2017 Uber , he announced the acquisition of up to 24 thousand, self-driving cars Volvo thereby indicating his transition from the format of only a mobile application for calling a taxi to the operator of his own fleet. More. here

Plans for joint IPO with Yandex

In November 2017, it became known that Yandex and Uber intend to conduct an initial public offering of shares (IPO) of their joint travel business. The IPO should take place in the first half of 2019, Bloomberg reported. According to the financial director of Yandex, Greg Abovsky, on the sidelines of the Morgan Stanley TMT conference in Barcelona, ​ ​ shares are likely to be traded in the United States [^[25]

He also said that Yandex is now working to turn Yandex.Taxi and Russian Uber applications into a single platform, but with two different user clients. According to Abovsky, in the II and III quarters of 2017, the growth in the number of users of both applications that previously competed was in "three-digit numbers." His words are confirmed by the official statistics of Yandex, according to which the growth of Yandex.Taxi passenger traffic amounted to 360% in the third quarter.

Under the terms of the merger, Yandex also acquired the Russian division of the food delivery service UberEats, and intends to invest intensively in this area in 2018, the financial director said.

Overestimating the cost of travel using a GPS application

In Nigeria, drivers partnering with Uber's online taxi ordering service use Lockito's Android app to inflate fares. This was announced on November 13, 2017 by the Quartz Africa portal.

Originally created to check navigation programs, the Lockito application allows you to simulate the operation of GPS, transmitting coordinates to mobile applications, as from real GPS. At the same time, both movement along the route and being at the same point is reproduced, and if an application tries to find out the location, it is given fake instead of real data.

Taxi drivers in Nigeria use Lockito en masse after Uber's 40% reduction in base fare

After chatting with several drivers from Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, journalists learned how, with the help of the app, local taxi drivers take a double and even triple fare per trip.

By launching Lockito before the passenger gets into the car, drivers enter coordinates from the landing point to the destination and create a fake route for the Uber app. When a real trip begins, its route is also tracked by GPS and charged. At the end of the journey, the cost of both trips, simulated and real, is summed up, and an unsuspecting passenger pays a much larger amount than expected.

One of the interlocutors admitted that for the trip, which actually cost about 3,000 naira (the monetary unit of Nigeria, about $8), he took 10 thousand naira from the client. And this is not the limit: the taxi driver heard that some of his colleagues overcharged more than five times.

Nigerian Uber drivers claim that the service itself forced them into fraud. In May 2017, Uber reduced the basic tariff for a trip in the country by 40%, after which taxi drivers began to use Lockito en masse.

Also, drivers say that Uber is aware of illegal practice, but does not fight it in any way. Uber categorically denied the accusations and stressed that they are against such methods and always vigilantly monitor the prevention of fraud by drivers.^[26]

Investment from SoftBank

Japanese telecommunication the conglomerate SoftBank dollars is investing billions in Uber's online ride-hailing service as part of a company-signed agreement. Uber announced the agreement reached on November 12, 2017, but did not disclose details of the deal.

SoftBank invests billions of dollars in Uber

According to knowledgeable sources cited by The Associated Press, SoftBank will acquire Uber shares worth $1 billion, and will also offer to buy Uber shares from other investors and employees of the company in order to bring its stake in the online service to 14%.

By November 13, 2017, the cost of Uber is estimated at about $68.5 billion. The redemption of shares will be made at a lower price, so it is not known what the total amount of investment is in question, said the agency's interlocutor, who gave an interview on condition of anonymity.^[27]

Reuters also reports, citing insiders, that the group of investors led by SoftBank includes Dragoneer Investment Group and a number of other companies that jointly plan to invest from $1 to 1.25 billion in Uber, and in the future want to acquire from other shareholders of the online service up to 17% of its securities. As a result, the deal could reach $10 billion, two people told the publication, who asked not to disclose their names.^[28]

Uber itself said about the agreement with a consortium led by SoftBank and investment group Dragoneer that the deal is a vote of confidence in the company's potential, and that it "will contribute to increased investment in Uber technology, further expansion of the service at home and abroad, as well as strengthening corporate governance."

In addition, the signed agreement paved the way for Uber to IPO. As one of the world's most expensive tech companies, Uber plans to hold an initial public offering on the stock exchange before the end of 2019.

London work ban

In September 2017, it became known about the ban on Uber in London. The company is ready to make concessions in negotiations with the local transport system.

Transport for London (TfL), which manages public transport in the British capital, did not renew Uber London's license, which expires on September 30, 2017, to operate in London due to non-compliance with safety rules. The company has 21 days to appeal the decision, and Uber is going to take advantage of that by going to the courts.

London authorities stripped Uber of passenger licence

The transport regulator explains its decision by the fact that "Uber's approach and behavior demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility," as well as the fact that the service uses the Greyball software system, which collects personal data of customers and analyzes them. True, in the spring of 2017, Uber announced a complete ban on Greyball.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan supported TfL's decision, stressing that "all companies in London must play by the rules and adhere to high standards," especially in terms of customer safety.

Uber said the decision taken by London's transport authority demonstrates to the world how closed the British capital is to innovative companies.

The chief manager of Uber's office in London, Tom Elvidge, told The Sunday Times about his appeal to the London Transport Department and the city's mayor, Sadiq Khan:

We want to know what we can do, sit down and work together to settle it.

Uber's ban in London came as a real surprise to the industry and the city's residents. This taxi ordering service in the British capital is used by 3.5 million passengers and about 40 thousand drivers.^[29]

In three days, more than 727 thousand people signed a petition demanding to keep Uber in London.

Uber launches a center for supporting Russian-speaking customers around the world in Voronezh

Uber Technologies leased 1.35 thousand square meters in the Galeon business center in Voronezh. The company plans to increase the rented area to 5 thousand square meters and organize a support center for Russian-speaking Uber customers around the world there, the Kommersant newspaper writes, citing^[30] sources^[31], ^[32]

Uber told the publication that an expert center of the company is already working in Voronezh, which specializes in supporting drivers and passengers. It now employs 130 people. Similar centers are open in Cairo, Krakow, American Phoenix, Limerick (Ireland), as well as in Manila and Latin America.

CBRE called Voronezh a successful choice for opening a back office: the rental rate at Galeon is 950 rubles per square meter per month. Thus, 1.35 thousand square meters will cost 15.4 million rubles a year, and 5 thousand square meters - 57 million rubles.

Authorities' control after massive data breach

In August 2017, Uber agreed to oversight by U.S. authorities for 20 years and a new program to protect client data. These are the conditions set by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), on which Uber can avoid much harsher sanctions.

FTK accused the service of false statements regarding the safety of personal data of service partners and information protection of the company's infrastructure as a whole.^[33]

Uber falls under 20-year control of authorities after massive data breach

The conflict between the supervisory authority and Uber in the United States began with a massive data breach in 2014, when more than 100,000 names of drivers collaborating with Uber and their driver's license numbers were "leaked" from the company's database. Data Base was located in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud service, but the database owner is responsible for data security.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Uber did not take even the most basic and costly measures - such as the introduction of two-factor authorization - to prevent leakage.

In addition, according to officials, Uber very quickly abandoned the use of an automated system for monitoring the access of company employees to user data.

Uber has failed customers twice: providing incorrect data on the extent to which the company's employees' access to personal data of customers and drivers was monitored, and reporting false information about what steps were taken to protect this data, said Maureen Ohlhausen, current chairman of the FTC, in a statement. - This case shows that even if you are a fast-growing company, you cannot forget about customers: your promises to protect personal data must be respected.

Now Uber will have to be regularly subjected to a third-party audit for 20 years to comply with the standards for the protection of personal data of users - both drivers and passengers of the service. Uber will also have to deploy a new program to ensure the protection of personal data. However, the company itself notes that Uber is already actively working in this direction.

The FTC complaint dates back to 2014. Since then, we have significantly strengthened our security, improved the protection of personal data, and continue to invest significantly in these areas, Uber said. The company "does not recognize, but does not refute, the allegations of FTK."

In 2016, Uber was fined $20,000 for using company executives to track current passenger movements. The case resulted in an investigation by the New York State Attorney's Office.

By and large, Uber was largely substituted with its statements that they were fine with information security, "said Georgy Lagoda, CEO of SEC Consult Services. - No one is immune from errors, data leaks happen even where protection, it would seem, is organized at the proper level. But in this case, we are talking primarily about the form of unfair advertising, and only then about the real shortcomings of protection three years ago. By the way, the story of the LinkedIn leak, which happened five years ago, shows that such incidents can have very long-lasting consequences. Uber can touch that, too.

Uber merges with Yandex.Taxi

On July 13, Yandex and Uber announced that they had agreed to combine their online travel ordering businesses in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The combined company will also include the UberEATS service in these countries.

Under the terms of the agreement, $225 million and $100 million are invested in the created company Uber and Yandex, respectively, estimating it at $3.725 billion. Taking into account these investments and possible adjustments at the time of closing the transaction, 59.3% of the company will be owned by Yandex, 36.6% by Uber, and 4.1% by employees. The company will be headed by the general director of Yandex.Taxi Tigran Khudaverdyan.

As noted, the combined company will use Yandex's technologies and knowledge in the field of cartographic and navigation services and search engines and Uber's global experience in online services for ordering transportation.

After the deal closes, both ride-ordering apps - both Yandex.Taxi and Uber - will still be available to users. At the same time, taxi companies and drivers will switch to a single technological platform - this will increase the number of cars available for fulfillment of orders, reduce the time of their submission, reduce idle mileage, increase the availability of the service as a whole, according to Yandex.

At the same time, the company stressed that "there will be no radical changes in tariffs" either now or later. The cost of the trip will be formed taking into account the situation on the roads and demand. Uber also said that they do not plan to change tariffs.^[34]

"Partnership with Uber will help to expand the geography of the business and improve the quality of service faster," said Tigran Khudaverdyan, CEO of Yandex.Taxi. - Our companies provide a total of more than 35 million trips per month, and their number has grown by 400% year-on-year. Since the founding of Yandex.Taxi in 2011, several hundred thousand drivers have joined the service, we have created a taxi ordering service in Russia and in five other countries. We're excited to continue working alongside Uber. "

"This association is beneficial not only for both companies, but most importantly - for users, drivers and cities," said Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, head of Uber in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "This deal helps us further build a sustainable international business."

The deal was approved by the boards of directors of Uber and Yandex, but is still subject to agreement with regulators. Its closure is expected in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Uber will pay $20 million to "deceive" drivers

Taxi company Uber will pay $20 million in a lawsuit by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which accused businessmen of deceiving drivers. The corresponding agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant was concluded in the District Court of the Northern District of California^[35].

According to Bloomberg, according to regulators, the company reported "false and unfounded information" about how much drivers can earn by participating in the service. We are talking about both the amount of income and the cost of leasing cars.

an example, the FTC cites a 2015 ad about the recruitment of taxi drivers in New York and San Francisco. Uber promised New York taxi drivers an average annual income of $90 thousand, and drivers in San Francisco - $74 thousand. In fact, the average annual earnings of taxi drivers in these cities from 2013 to 2014 were, respectively, less than $29 thousand and less than $21 thousand.

2016

Sberbank Investments

Logo in 2016

On July 7, 2016 Sberbank SBT Venture Fund I , the venture capital fund announced an investment in ride-hailing service Uber. Details of the deal were not disclosed.

It is known that the Sberbank fund took part in the investment round G, in which Uber raised about $12.5 billion and received a business valuation of $66 billion. Read more here.

Notes