Uber disciplines New York manager for tracking a Buzzfeed reporter
Uber has disciplined its New York City general manager Josh Mohrer for breaching the firm’s privacy policy by spying on a Buzzfeed reporter.
Josh Mohrer and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick
The taxi-hailing firm began an investigation into Mohrer ten days ago after it emerged he was accessing Buzzfeed reporter Johana Bhuiyan travel records using a system known by the firm’s employees as ‘God Mode’, according to Slate.
On one instance, where Mohrer and Bhuiyan met at Uber’s Long Island Headquarters, the Buzzfeed reporter claimed Mohrer said: “There you are, I was tracking you.”
Uber refused to discuss the terms of the disciplinary action and Mohrer still remains in his positon at the company despite using it to spy on journalists.
As a result of the misstep, Uber last week issued an updated privacy policy claiming that employees of all levels were prohibited from accessing users’ travel records without a legitimate purpose.
The incident came during a bad week for Uber which also saw Emil Michael, senior vice president of business, come under fire for hinting he would be interested in hiring investigators to dig up dirt on critical journalists.