The disruptive taxi app firm, Uber, is up to its ears in regulatory disputes with authorities from Brussels to Guangzhou. It now appears that Uber may have been hacked. US authorities are investigating a spate of claims from users that they have been charged for “phantom” cab rides they neither booked nor made. One user in London maintained that he had been charged for a $260 limo ride in California, which had been ordered in the middle of the night, UK time. Because of the time-lag, they didn’t pick up the notification till the following morning. Uber insists it has found no security breach, but the latest incidents follow speculation that some user account details have been found for sale on the “dark web”, making them vulnerable to criminal activity. (Mark Townsend, The Observer).
When my wife bought a new Samsung Galaxy phone and tried to download the Uber app, they wouldn’t approve her unless she agreed to give them access to all her contacts and her photos. Photos? Excuse me. This is a gross invasion of privacy. What does a taxi company want with your photos, unless it is for blackmail purposes? And what do they want your email contacts for (no prize for guessing)? It seems that young people are not as concerned about privacy as maybe they should be? But no Uber for us, thank you. We will continue to use ordinary taxis.
In London the traditional cab drivers spend years learning the “knowledge” of the city. They are licensed, and their activities are controlled and overseen by the city authorities. Not so Uber. Anyone with a vehicle can work for them , with few overheads and no knowledge of a complicated city. In a few years time we may have no option but to have to allow Uber access to our private lives if we want to use a taxi. and hailing taxis spontaneously by the side of the rosd will be a thing of the past. Sometimes, in an emergency, being able to do this is essential.
Would you support a ban on Uber, as has happened in Berlin?
No, that’s not the way to do it. I think they are bad news, but the public has to come to that conclusion voluntarily, and stop using them. Given a steady drip of bad publicity that educates the users, this could well happen.