Uber, a mobility service provider, has been exposed for engaging in dubious and aggressive manner that saw the company expand in a period of 5 years, between 2013-2017.
The tech giant was exposed by its former Senior Executive Mark Macgann who felt the need to right the wrong. Macgann leaked 124,000 databases that have been referred to as Uberfiles. The files include messages, emails, internal memos, WhatsApp messages and presentations that brought to light the dirty tricks that Uber applied in 40 countries worldwide. The documents include conversations between Uber’s top management and various influential people across the world.
The files that were released to The Guardian Newspaper, which shared them with International Consortium of Journalists and 42 media houses, detailed how Uber ” flouted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments during its aggressive global expansion.” That was when Uber was being run by its co-founder Travis Kalanick who allegedly forced the tech giant taxi services in various cities around the world by even breaching laws and taxi regulations.
During the anti-uber worldwide protests 2016 Kalanick sent Uber taxi drivers to protest in France hence risking their lives saying, “I think it’s worth it, violence guarantees success.”Â
The documents reveal that the company approached presidents, prime ministers, billionaires and media barons to lure them to their side.
The company’s management further urged their drivers to meet with politicians to have taxi regulations changed for their own selfish gains. At the time, the company’s executives were in the dark and did not know that their company was breaking laws with MacGann being the one who initiated communications with government
Some of the prominent mentioned in the leaks include France President Emanuel Macron. Macron is said to have helped Uber thrive in France when he was the economy minister.
Others that Uber attempted to lobby are US president Joe Biden when he was still a vice president, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz when he was still a mayor, former UK Chancellor George Osborne among others.
Other mechanisms that the company used to evade the law was the Kill switch technique that would cut off system access whenever their offices were raided by law enforcement officers.
Uber has since responded to the leaks saying that the company has transformed since 2017 under the leadership of Dara Khosrowshahi.
““We have not and will not make excuses for past behavior that is clearly not in line with our present values. Instead, we ask the public to judge us by what we’ve done over the last five years and what we will do in the years to come,” the company said.
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