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Uber has just recently confessed that it was hacked in October 2016, and the data of more than 57 million of its users was stolen. To make matters worse, Uber then paid a ransom of $100,000 to have the hackers delete the stolen data. Whether that has happened is something we just do not know. Along with users’ data, it is estimated that 600,000 drivers have had some of their information stolen, including Social Security Numbers and driver's license information.
Being Upfront and Honest
While you may think the fact that Uber has come clean is a good thing, which it is, it's critical to keep in mind they first tried to cover it up. They have an obligation to inform stakeholders of such a data breach. And apart from the obvious of how on earth can a tech company let this happen in the first place, there are still plenty of questions to be answered.
Uber users and drivers have a right to know whose data was compromised. What if any guarantees do Uber have that the data is now secure or has been deleted? We need assurances that our personal details and other data has been deleted, and is not floating somewhere around the dark web.
The confession comes under the new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and is one of many steps he is obliged to take to fix Uber’s broken corporate governance culture. This latest piece of bad news comes hot on the heels of a series of negative stories this year. Recent debacles include losing their license to operate in London and being forced to admit that they used software to foil regulators in various locations. Even worse, the company had to admit late last year that they were tracking individuals for up to 5 minutes after their ride had finished.
The move is part of Khosrowshahi’s efforts to clean up after his predecessor Travis Kalanick was ousted in June 2017. In a statement posted on the Uber website, it was confirmed that two senior executives have lost their roles over the fiasco. Hopefully, under new leadership, Uber will get its act together, and move on to what it is good at – getting people around for a reasonable price.
Source: The Independent
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Oh geez. I wonder who is next? One by one, every company will be the next ‘victim’! And offer 1 year free credit monitoring….
Ha! Right…show of hands for those that actually believe the data was deleted by the hackers?
I’m not raising my hand.
Uber’s list of shady practices grows longer!
Come on Uber, do better.
wow, i can’t believe data breach keeps happening. What I don’t get is, why did it take them so long to announce it?
Seems like they were trying to cover it up.
The Uber breach is the scariest one yet for me personally, because my wife and I use it virtually daily.
Ouch
Terrible news
there need t be bigger penalties for this stuff
I don’t know which is worse, the loss of the data or the fact that they tried to cover it up.
While I’m not too concerned actually about being hacked, followed or tracked… heck we don’t let our governments do this (when sometimes they should! to stop really bad things from happening) but what erks me is giving away my data for free. I do not do anything exciting at all, nor illegal so all people are getting from my is advertising pings 🙁 that I can do without!
I’m surprised that there is so little horror about this breach regardless though. Everyone is tracked all the time from our little “smart phones” in our pockets whether we like it or not.
credit freeze seems the only option with all the data breaches
I agree that all of our information is out there. I know my identity was stolen. The good thing about credit cards is you can catch it quickly (with instant alerts) and shut it down. This is why I don’t use debit cards. If that is hacked the money comes out of your account and it’s a much bigger problem than a fraudulent charge on a credit card.
I cannot believe how little publicity this story has received compared to other companies’ data breaches. Uber’s tactics are despicable. However, at the end of the day, it is up to each individual to monitor his/her own finances and personal information. You can set up alerts for every time there is a transaction on your credit card and bank accounts.
They don’t care, as long as they are making money.
Yikes! Terrible news.
Maybe I’ll get yet another year of free credit monitoring overlapping the other free years of credit monitoring from…
another year of useless monitoring?
Our personal info has been compromised several times over by now from various businesses. I still use Uber and Lyft based on price and availability.
Nobody’s data is truly safe. But we also give away so much for free via Facebook, Google, etc. that it seems odd that most people only care about the companies that are hacked.
they are a sleazy company so this is not unexpected
this is becoming a constant problem with data security
what else is new. and no one goes to jail. apparently it’s not criminal if corporations do it
Paying ransom is utterly illegal!
Our private data is not safe at all.
Yikes. I have had my bank account details stolen before, not fun.
If you google “haveibeenpwned” you can check your various e-mails against various data breaches.
I have apparently been in a few, mostly ones where no private data was stored.
Terrible but seems like breaches are happening too often.
I’ve only just signed up to Uber, but haven’t actually used them yet.
It seems like nobody’s data is secure anymore!
Would you advise to change Credit-Card Data?
No, I wouldn’t
Oh no I trusted them so much!
no need to use them, and here’s more proof of that.
Wow, those are some big numbers! Still have not tried Uber to this day.
At this point I just assume that all of us no longer have control of our data, through no real fault of our own. That’s the unfortunate reality I believe.
I’m with Jamie. I just don’t care anymore. You probably have everything you need to hack me. Go for it. While you’re at it, if you could pay some of my bills that would be great.
I agree. There is no way to keep your data fully secure. Credit card fraud is a fact of life. My card has just been hacked again (8th time in my life). It’s a hassle, but I’ll get the money back. It’s easier to just deal with it when it happens than it is to try (in vain) to prevent it.
Gonna switch over to Lyft now…
While reading this my eyes began bugging out of my head! Holy moly!!