A new leak of more than 100,000 records shows that the Uber giant used stealth technology to drive away regulators and pressured political leaders around the world to help the startup undermine workers’ rights, avoid taxes and expand its global footprint .
Uber Files ’research is based on a pile of texts, emails, invoices and other confidential documents from 2013 to 2017 that were leaked to The Guardian newspaper by an anonymous source.
The Guardian then shared the documents with the International Consortium of Nonprofit Investigative Journalists, a network of journalists based in Washington, DC, and other media partners who led the investigation with the Guardian.
Here are five key findings from the probe.
The former CEO was encouraged by the violence
Disgruntled French taxi drivers led violent protests against Uber in Paris after Uber first launched in the City of Light in 2011, and drivers feared the startup would threaten their livelihoods.
The consortium reported that then-CEO Travis Kalanick viewed the possible violence against Uber drivers as positive from a public relations standpoint.
“Violence guarantees success,” Kalanick sent to his colleagues at the time.
Devan Spurgeon, a spokesman for Kalanick, told the consortium that the former CEO “never suggested that Uber take advantage of the violence at the expense of driver safety.”
Uber used stealth technology to frustrate regulators
The investigation also found that Uber used “stealth technology” to defend government investigations.
For example, Uber had a “death switch” at its disposal that blocked authorities’ access to Uber’s servers in several countries and prevented them from confiscating documents during raids on company offices.
Uber could also identify police and government officials who intended to order cars through the app for information. Uber had the chance to show them an imitation version of the app with fake vehicles that could be summoned but never arrived.
Uber said it no longer uses technology to frustrate law enforcement.
Pressure politicians to influence legislation
In 2015, taxi drivers in Marseille, France, protested violently against Uber. As a result of repeated clashes between taxi drivers and Uber workers, the French authorities partially suspended Uber’s most popular service.
At the time, Uber was asking for help from then-French Minister Emmanuel Macron to reintegrate Uber, and Uber lobbyist Mark MacGann exchanged texts with Macron.
“Could you ask your cabinet to help us understand what’s going on? Respectfully. Mark,” MacGann wrote, according to the report.
Macron replied, “I’ll look into it personally. Send me all the facts and we’ll decide tonight. Keep calm at this stage, I trust you.”
Authorities subsequently reviewed the suspension order, according to the report.
Tax evasion
Uber avoided paying millions of dollars in taxes by channeling money through Bermuda and other tax havens, according to Uber records.
He then “tried to divert attention from his tax obligations by helping the authorities collect taxes from his drivers,” the report found.
Uber endangered the lives of drivers in the expansion of South Africa
After Uber drivers in South Africa received permission to accept cash, gangs began calling for trips to steal drivers.
In August 2019, two gang members attacked and killed an Uber driver, according to prosecutors. Other drivers in the country were burned to death.
Kalanick saw the violence against drivers as a business opportunity, with no responsibility for the attacks, according to leaked files.
Uber responds: Look forward, not backward
MacGann, the lobbyist, came forward as the source of the leak and told the Guardian and the Washington Post that he regretted his role in the Uber expansion.
“I was the one who told people that they had to change the rules so that drivers would benefit and people would have a lot of financial opportunities,” he said. “When it turned out that wasn’t the case, we had actually sold people a lie, how can you have a clear conscience if you don’t get up and not take charge of your contribution to how people are treated today ? ”
In a statement to the Guardian, Uber said it made “mistakes and missteps,” but argued that the company has changed since 2017 after Dara Khosrowshahi was general manager.
“Five years ago, these mistakes culminated in one of the most infamous accounts in the history of American companies. That accounts it sparked a lot of public scrutiny, a series of high-profile lawsuits, multiple government investigations and the dismissal of several senior executives, ”the statement said.
“We have not given excuses for past behaviors that are clearly not in line with our current values,” he said. “Instead, we ask the public to judge us for what we have done over the past five years and what we will do in the coming years.”
The statement also said MacGann, who left the company in 2016 and recently settled a dispute with Uber over a bonus he said he owed, was not in a position to judge Uber’s role today.
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