Governments demanding answers from Uber over recent data breach

Car-sharing company, Uber Technologies, are facing further questioning from governments as they demand answers over alleged violations of multiple laws and regulations stemming from the 2016 Uber data breach that saw a reported 57 million customers and drivers have their personal information exposed.

The failure to disclose the breach is not being accepted by some regulators and lawmakers. A number of lawsuits have been launched against the popular company with allegations of consumer fraud and deceptive business practices.

Uber’s handling of the breach has been heavily scrutinised by authorities and the public. The company defied some data protection and consumer protection laws when it not only failed to disclose the breach but essentially “paid off” the apparent 20-year-old hacker with $100,000 to stop them from misusing the data, and to stop them from revealing the breach. In the cover-up, Uber reportedly said that the $100,000 transaction was a legitimate payment to hackers invited to test the company’s cybersecurity for bugs and flaws.

This turned out to be untrue.

Governments also want to hear why Uber – having reportedly experienced a smaller data breach in 2014 – did not upgrade its cybersecurity measures as apparently promised. The suggestion here is that the 2016 breach that exposed 57 million people may have been entirely preventable.

One lawyer said, “we filed this lawsuit because Uber must be held accountable for its actions which have made its customers vulnerable to identity theft, fraud and other abuse.” He is reportedly keen to hold Uber accountable for the breach and its blatant disregard for the law by ‘handling’ it the way they did.

Counsel in another lawsuit accused Uber of, “failing to safeguard personal information and then covering it up, preventing those impacted from taking steps to protect themselves.”

Uber spokeswoman, Molly Spaeth, has responded to the lawsuits with a statement that promises:

“[Uber] are committed to changing the way we do business, putting integrity at the core of every decision we make, and working hard to regard the trust of consumers.”

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