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Uber Technology

Fresh blow for Uber as UK government hacking inquiry opens door to legal action

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By John Glenday, Reporter

November 24, 2017 | 2 min read

An as yet unknown number of British Uber users have been impacted by the massive data breach that was revealed earlier this week, which the government has said could see the service face legal action.

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Fresh blow for Uber as report identifies 57m potential hacking victims

Citing a government report, digital minister Matt Hancock said yesterday (23 November) that the mammoth breach which affected at least 57 million individuals has likely caught up an unknown number of British users.

He said British officials only realised a breach had occurred after learning of it from the media and that the government is now in discussions with Dutch and US authorities over the matter.

It isn't thought that any victims could be exposed to financial crime as a result.

In his statement Hancock said: "“At this stage our initial assessment is, for Uber customers, that the stolen information is not the sort of information that would allow direct financial crime but we are working urgently to verify this and we rule nothing out.”

Earlier it had been revealed by Bloomberg that Uber had paid $100k in hush money to the hackers to keep their success hidden, prompting UK ministers to seek ‘sufficient answers’ over its conduct and security protocols.

Hancock went on to state that there was a ‘very high chance’ that Uber’s handling of the affair was ‘Illegal under UK law’, raising the prospect of the firm being hauled before the courts to answer for its actions.

Uber has been hit by an incessant slew of negative headlines, most recently after losing its London license.

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