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Uber accused of dodging regulators with 'secret program' Greyball

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By Gillian West, Social media manager

March 5, 2017 | 2 min read

Ride-hailing app Uber has been accused of using a secret program to prevent regulators from shutting it down in cities across the globe.

The software, called Greyball, looks to identify undercover officials and deny them service particularly in cities where operations have not been authorised.

According to reports in the New York Times, four current and former Uber employees have confirmed the use of Greyball which identified regulators posing as passengers by collecting data on the location used to order a car and determining whether or not this coincided with government officials.

It also checked card information to discover if the user was linked to an institution or law enforcement. Additionally, Uber even visited phone shops to trace handsets purchased by officials setting up multiple accounts in an effort to catch the company’s drivers.

In most cases, officials were trying to find out if Uber was complying to the same conditions of services required by legislation.

Once suspected of trying to ‘entrap’ drivers, officials would be served a ‘fake’ version of the app with fictitious cabs on view, on ordering a real one the booking would then be cancelled.

A statement released by Uber said the program denies rides to “fraudulent 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,” confirmed Uber’s statement.

Uber has been at odds with governments and competitors on numerous occasions often making headlines. In the last week Uber has seen its senior vice-president Amit Signal leave over undisclosed sexual harassment charges.

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