Items tagged with ridesharing
Uber suffered a data breach back in October 2016 that affected tens of millions of people, and it is just now letting the public know about it, as 2018 rolls into view. This latest incident is yet another black eye for a company that has been beat up in the media over questionable decision making in the past, such as using special software to evade detection from authorities, but better late than never, right? To be fair, this is not th fault of Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who recently replace Travis Kalanick as the ridesharing company's boss. And to Khosrowshahi's credit, he responded to knowledge of the security breach with the fury of someone who wants to make it clear that this kind of thing...
Read more...
Controversy is attracted to Uber like flies on you-know-what. The latest evidence of this is a situation in London where Uber will not be allowed to operate after September 30, 2017. In a somewhat unusual move, Transport for London (TfL) said it informed Uber that it has been denied a private hire operator license because "Uber London is not fit and proper" to hold one. Ouch! "TfL's regulation of London's taxi and private hire trades is designed to ensure passenger safety. Prive hire operators must meet rigorous regulations, demonstrate to TfL that they do so, in order to operate. TfL must also be satisfied that an operator is fit and proper to hold a license," TfL stated in a Twitter post. "TfL...
Read more...
Following months of turmoil, Travis Kalanick has decided to resign as the chief executive officer of Uber, the popular ride-hailing startup he co-founded in 2009 en route to disrupting public transportation as it existed before then. His resignation follows an announcement last week that he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence after his mother perished in a boating accident. The planned hiatus was not enough to appease Uber's investors. Five of Uber's biggest shareholders, including venture capital firm Benchmark, the largest stakeholder of them all, wrote a letter to Kalanick demanding that he step down as CEO. It was delivered to him while he was in Chicago, people with knowledge...
Read more...
Some users have noticed that Uber's mobile app continues to track a user's location after a ride is completed. In some cases, the location tracking stays active for days or even weeks after the last completed ride. Is Uber spying on users who hail rides from the popular ridesharing service? Uber says no and instead points the finger at iOS, Apple's mobile operating system for iPhone devices. More specifically, Uber says it is the fault of the iOS Maps extension that Apple opened a few months ago, insisting that it was not due to buggy code in its own app or part of its recent location services update. The latter is what many assumed was the culprit since Uber announced last month that it was...
Read more...
Certain things should go without saying. Should. Unfortunately, common sense takes a backseat etiquette these days, so ridesharing service Uber felt compelled to add some common sense restrictions to its "Community Guidelines." Breaking any of them could result in being banned from hailing rides from Uber drivers. Uber's goal was to lay out the rules in "plain English" so that everyone—both drivers and riders—know what is expected of them. For example, Uber prohibits damaging the driver's or another passenger's property. In case that's too vague, Uber goes on to list specific infractions that include "damaging the car, breaking or vandalizing a phone, intentionally spilling food or drink, smoking,...
Read more...
Just days after launching its ride-sharing service in Portland, OR, Uber Technologies is facing a lawsuit from the city. The city is wasting no time in its efforts to stop Uber’s Portland operations; Transportation Director Leah issued a cease and desist order to Uber on Monday. The cease and desist order has a passage that may worry some aspiring Uber drivers in the area. “The City will be taking appropriate enforcement action against Uber’s illegal activities and those of its drivers, which may include bringing suit against Uber for injunctive and other relief, imposing civil and criminal penalties, impounding illegally operated for-hire vehicles and any other steps deemed necessary...
Read more...
Rideshare services Lyft and Uber (“hipster taxis”, a friend calls them) are facing some backlash over their business model of peer-to-peer ridesharing, particularly in the state of Virginia. The Virginia DMV has made it clear that this ridesharing paradigm is against current law. There’s a provision in the law for ridesharing in the case of, for example, carpoolers trying to save a buck getting to work, but Uber and Lyft violate the part of the law that applies to “any business that receives compensation to provide or facilitate transportation”. The Virginia DMV has sent cease and desist letters to both companies, warning them that after months of warnings and civil...
Read more...
