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Uber execs saw the company as “pirates” taking over transportation industry with help from high-profile friends, leaked docs say
A trove of Uber documents leaked to the media opens a window into the internal workings of the ridesharing giant’s sometimes brutal and sleazy approach towards muscling its way into becoming a worldwide juggernaut. Here is what we know about the so-called Uber Files.
Gig giant exposed Uber Files were obtained by British newspaper The Guardian and shared with other outlets to prepare a series of reports based on the leak. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is its principal partner.
‘Pirates’ of ridesharing Uber executives were quite aware of their dubious legal status and joked about their effort to brush off regulations, emails showed. “We have officially become pirates,” one person wrote in a discussion of company tactics to “avoid enforcement.” The cavalier approach based on the notion that it’s better to seek forgiveness than permission produced what the company referred to as a “pyramid of sh*t,” including lawsuits from drivers, administrative procedures, investigations by regulators and direct litigation.
‘Kill switch’ One way to apparently hinder investigations was to cut access to company servers in the US from regional offices, referred to as “kill switch” in Uber communications. It was engaged during police raids in countries like France, the Netherlands, Belgium, India, Hungary and Romania.
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In a text sent during a raid in Paris in 2015, Thibaud Simphal, the then-manager of Uber France told Mark MacGann, the company’s chief lobbyist in Europe at the time, that he’d used the technique so many times that “by now the most difficult part is continuing to act surprised.” Other tech tricks were aimed against police officers who ordered rides for sting operations. In some countries, the app would ‘dispatch’ phantom cars that never arrived. In Denmark, Uber discussed creating “blackout geofences” around police stations, meaning only pre-approved clients would be able to call rides from those locations.
Violence “guarantee[s] success” Uber executives appeared to appreciate opportunities to exploit violence against their drivers to score some public sympathy. In 2015, the firm’s general manager in Belgium called an incident, in which a protester threw a flour sack at Uber driver and passengers, a “good story.” In one 2016 exchange, Kalanick dismissed concerns over the safety of Uber drivers in France as he called for a counter-protest to confront activist taxi drivers. When warned by MacGann that ultra-right activists infiltrated the protest and could become violent, he said: “I think it’s worth it. Violence guarantee[s] success.”
Revolving door As it executed its expansion plans, Uber spared no money on lobbying. In 2016 alone, the proposed global budget for it was $90 million, according to the leaks. The company hired what the ICIJ called a “battalion” of people to advocate on their behalf, including many former officials in the Barack Obama administration. “Our relationship with NK is highly confidential,” MacGann told his colleagues, four months after Kroes resigned from the Commission. Uber executives were concerned that she could become “the poster child for the discussions around ‘revolving door/tech’s crony capitalism.’ ”
Friends in high places The company managed to get the ear of many powerful people throughout the world. In France, a fast-rising business-oriented technocrat Emmanuel Macron became a good ally in the government, who had a “clear desire on his part to work around the … legislation,” according to MacGann. “look into this personally.” The ban was revised “after intense pressure from Uber,” an internal company update later said.
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Document leak reveals Uber’s secret activities – media
In one example of such networking, in 2016 Kalanick rubbed shoulders with the crowd at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which included then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and George Osborne, the UK’s chancellor at the time. “that every minute late he is, is one less minute he will have with me.” His pitch for digital transformation of the transportation industry that the CEO gave impressed Biden so much that he altered his speech to praise Uber’s head.
What Uber said The company threw Kalanick under the bus, stating that it “[has] not and will not make excuses for past behavior that is clearly not in line with our present values.” A representative for the former CEO denied wrongdoing on his part. The statement said that Kalanick “never authorized any actions or programs that would obstruct justice” and “never suggested that Uber should take advantage of violence at the expense of driver safety.”
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