Skip to main content

Uber backtracks on Greyball, will stop using controversial law-evading program After it defended the program





uber, greyball
With allegations of sexism and sexual harassment, lawsuits, and a video of CEO Travis Kalanick acting like an ass, Uber is in damage control mode right now. The company’s latest attempt to repair its image involves the controversial Greyballprogram used to deceive regulators. After defending the system following the New York Times report that first revealed Greyball, Uber now says it will stop using the tool.
In a brief blog post, Uber chief security officer Joe Sullivan wrote: “We have started a review of the different ways this technology has been used to date. In addition, we are expressly prohibiting its use to target action by local regulators going forward.”
Greyball uses several techniques, including geofencing, credit card info, social media, and device number checks to identify city officials who may be attempting to hail an Uber car and catch it violating local taxi regulations. The tool then stops those who are “greyballed” from catching a ride by showing fake cars or no cars on the app’s map, or canceling any that get ordered.
Greyball was used in locations where ride-hailing firms such as Uber weren’t strictly legal, such as Boston, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon, and in countries including France, Australia, China, South Korea and Italy.
Uber said the program “denies ride requests to users who are violating our terms of service. 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.”
Now the company has backtracked on Greyball, though it won’t be disappearing overnight. “Given the way our systems are configured, it will take some time to ensure this prohibition is fully enforced,” writes Sullivan.
The move marks Uber’s second change of heart in as many weeks. Its San Francisco self-driving vehicles were banned by the California DMV in December after Uber refused to apply for a permit, but the firm recently announced it has applied for and received the necessary licenses.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Google tries to unify advanced carrier messaging on Android, starting with Sprint

Image
Google saidon Friday that Sprint will be the first domestic wireless provider to adopt Rich Communication Services (RCS), an upgrade to the aging Short Message Service (SMS) standard. RCS enables a host of enhancements not possible over SMS including high-resolution photo and video sharing, confirmation that a recipient has read your message, group chat and freedom from that annoying 160 character limit. RCS isn’t exactly a new concept (it was conceived in 2007 with the initial release pushed out in 2012) nor are the features it delivers. Roughly a decade ago, the wireless landscape looked nothing like it does today. Wireless carriers, which for years had made their money selling service plans that focused on metered talk minutes, were now marketing unlimited text messaging as their key perk. It wasn’t long before services like BlackBerry Messenger and Apple’s  iMessagecame along, offering users a way to circumvent carrier texting and rendering SMS-focused service plans useless. As ad
Read more

“Here she is tonight in public, pretending not to hate Catholics.” Donald Trump & Hillary Clinton cheekily roast each other at charity dinner

Image
Billionaire businessman Donald Trump and his U.S Presidential rival Hillary Clinton took out time to have a go at each at a charity campaign event in Manhattanon Thursday night, barely 24 hours after the third and final U.S presidential election debate which ended on a bitter note. The annual dinner was a fundraiser for the powerful Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, and during presidential election years, both presidential nominees traditionally speak and Trump as well as Hillary seized on the opportunity to crack 'hard jokes' at each other. At the event at the Waldorf Astoria, Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump sat separated by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York. Trump started off light-heartedly but as time progressed, his tone started coming off as bitter. 'And a special hello to all of you in this room who have  known and loved me for many, many years — the politicians. “The truth is I’m a modest person,” “a carpenter who worked for his f
Read more

AmazonFresh Pickup is now open to Prime members in Seattle

Image
Order online, schedule your pickup and an employee will load up your car   Comment Amazon is officially  opening up  its AmazonFresh Pickup locations in Seattle to Prime members in the area. The service allows shoppers to buy items online and choose a time to collect them at a drive-in Amazon facility, where store employees will deliver them to the car. The service requires as little as 15 minutes advance notice if you are a paying AmazonFresh subscriber, which costs an extra $14.99 per month on top of your Prime subscription. Regular Prime customers have to wait at least two hours before the earliest pickup window becomes available. According to Seattle Times, the first time you visit one of the AmazonFresh Pickup locations, a concierge will enter your name and vehicle’s license plate number into Amazon’s systems. That way a license-plate reader will be able to automatically identify the customer during subsequent visits. The automatic license-plate
Read more