Buried lede here:<p>"They spent much of their energy one-upping rivals like Lyft. Uber devoted teams to so-called competitive intelligence, purchasing data from an analytics service called Slice Intelligence. Using an email digest service it owns named Unroll.me, Slice collected its customers’ emailed Lyft receipts from their inboxes and sold the anonymized data to Uber. Uber used the data as a proxy for the health of Lyft’s business. (Lyft, too, operates a competitive intelligence team.)"
From the article, explained:<p><i>At the time, Uber was dealing with widespread account fraud in places like China, where tricksters bought stolen iPhones that were erased of their memory and resold. Some Uber drivers there would then create dozens of fake email addresses to sign up for new Uber rider accounts attached to each phone, and request rides from those phones, which they would then accept. Since Uber was handing out incentives to drivers to take more rides, the drivers could earn more money this way.</i><p><i>To halt the activity, Uber engineers assigned a persistent identity to iPhones with a small piece of code, a practice called “fingerprinting.” Uber could then identify an iPhone and prevent itself from being fooled even after the device was erased of its contents.</i>
I really hope Lyft doesn't do anything to screw up, as I've uninstalled Uber and will probably never use the service again. However, I don't see myself going back to regular taxi system as that's even more corrupt and despicable.<p>I just hope Lyft plays the game with a social conscious and makes positive decisions and continues to treat drivers well (most Lyft drivers I talk to say they like driving for Lyft way better than Uber).<p>I'm not so sure that as a society we should be rewarding people with drive like this "Mr. Kalanick, 40, is driven to the point that he must win at whatever he puts his mind to and at whatever cost".
For all the criticism he is getting, this would never have happened without him. Taxi companies are too strong, and the US needed someone like him to break barriers.<p>Lyft would never have existed without Uber. Now that Uber broke through the path (and is getting destroyed for it) the way is open for lots of other companies.<p>It happens all the time that the company that invents or creates something new, does not actually reap the rewards because the cost of creating it was so high they die in the process - but leave the way open for other companies.
I've thought the guy is slimy scum for some time, but that article made something click.<p>One consistent feature of Kalanick's tactics appears to be a proclivity for gaslighting on an industrial scale - geofencing Apple, regulators, etc.<p>Among (many) other things, I would never trust any data sourced solely to anything under his control.
Anyone uncomfortable with these kind of profiles? I'd rather judge his business decisions in isolation rather than having this quasi psycho analysis where it's implied we can get better insight of his business by knowing he was bullied
No one seems to explain how Uber could track user when the have deleted the app ?<p>It look more like an hack more than "a lack of boundaries" to me...
"Using an email digest service it owns named Unroll.me, Slice collected its customers’ emailed Lyft receipts from their inboxes and sold the anonymized data to Uber. "<p>Can someone explain to me the mechanics of how this happens? I use Lyft, which emails me a receipt. How does Slice get a hold of this? Does Lyft sell it to Slice?
Since "unroll.me" was anonymizing data[1] and then sold that data to Uber, is it safe to assume that Lyft used the subscription service to manage their drivers/customers contact information? If not, it's not clear to me how "unroll.me" provided that data to Uber.<p>[1] quote from article: Using an email digest service it owns named Unroll.me, Slice collected its customers’ emailed Lyft receipts from their inboxes and sold the anonymized data to Uber
I'm off uber after a BS "5 minute" issue. I've been using it for years, they literally had to burn so much goodwill to get me to stop using them, it's almost impressive.
Genuinely curious, can anyone tell me how this is different from Branch metrics? <a href="https://branch.io/" rel="nofollow">https://branch.io/</a><p>Tons of apps use their platform to identify unique devices, and I'm curious what makes it legal and what makes it not.
> That drew attention from regulators. In October 2010, the company shortened its name to Uber after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from San Francisco officials for marketing itself as a taxi company without the proper licenses and permits.<p>That's kind of surprising.
Open source gmail script: <a href="https://www.labnol.org/internet/gmail-unsubscribe/28806/" rel="nofollow">https://www.labnol.org/internet/gmail-unsubscribe/28806/</a><p>Not by me. No affiliation. Found it after this news.<p>[edit: typo]
Uber responds to report that it tracked users who deleted its app [0]. It seems to insist that tracking was done to <i>prevent fraud and account compromise</i>.<p><pre><code> Uber is pushing back on the allegations, saying that the
tracking is a common industry practice used to prevent fraud
and account compromise.
</code></pre>
[0] <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/23/uber-responds-to-report-that-it-tracked-users-who-deleted-its-app/" rel="nofollow">https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/23/uber-responds-to-report-th...</a>
I hope Uber burns to the ground, the sooner the better. So far they get away with so much, I can't believe it... Maybe Uber's only problem is that its CEO is not as good as others at avoiding the press.
As always with corporate "justice", if you are big enough and transgress, you simply get a slap. If you are a tiny developer, your app is out of the store and may be at some point you may get it back.<p>Truly blind justice.
Random Question: Why doesn't Apple do clean uninstalls once you remove an app? Every time I re-add Uber (I usually delete it since I live in Austin and it's useless... but then when I travel I re-add it when I want a ride) it already has my account and password saved. I'd be a lot happier if it did a clean install.<p>Not just Uber, but every app... any idea how I can do a true clean uninstall when I remove an app from my iPhone?
If you've already used your "10 free articles" for the month, the complete text of the article is also available at CNBC.<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/23/new-york-times-digital-uberas-ceo-plays-with-fire.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/23/new-york-times-digital-uberas...</a>
Although the article says they stopped using fingerprinting after getting caught by Apple, that's not actually the case. They're still doing it. I have an iphone that no matter how many times you wipe it, or how many sim cards you use, it will get instantly banned if you try and create an account on Uber.
One annoying thing with the Uber app is that they disabled the option to give access to location only when the app is running. The only option available in the iOS privacy setting is always or never for access to location (unlike other apps).
I don't know but Uber has proven to be a shinny example of a ponzy scheme within a larger ponzy scheme. They will never be profitable, Burning billions, so is the case with Careem whom I met, and their staff was at loss to tell how this is a viable business to run. They disrupted taxi drivers, making good earnings. They benefited a lot to consumers eliminating overcharging by common taxi drivers. But as an entrepreneur I am still failing to understand how far they can go before they run out of fuel $ eventually.
Slightly off topic, but does anyone know if the following image depicts programmer working conditions at Uber?<p><a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/04/22/business/24travis-1/24travis-1-superJumbo.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/04/22/business/24travis...</a><p>If so, I don't see how anyone can get any serious work done there.
Is there a good tool to create these line art "sketch" renditions like that of Kalanick in this article?<p><a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/04/19/technology/24travis/00travis-superJumbo.gif" rel="nofollow">https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/04/19/technology/24trav...</a>
<i>Mr. Kalanick, with salt-and-pepper hair, a fast-paced walk and an iPhone practically embedded in his hand, is described by friends as more at ease with data and numbers (some consider him a math savant) than with people.</i><p>I chuckled a little bit reading this.
The embedded Lyft ads (knowing full well they are adaptive to a given reader) throughout the article is a brilliant touch on the part of Uber's main competitor.
"some consider him a math savant"<p>"Savant" is very specific term. "Some" is very unusual reference to describe sources for good journalism.
Big story and all but they could have come up with a more descriptive title.<p>For a moment I wondered why Travis Kalanick playing with matches was on the front page.
Why are there so many Uber article on HN? The more I know the more upset I am with them.<p>I also find the fact that their new logo looks like an asshole very fitting
"At a meeting at Mr. Kalanick’s house, and over cartons of Chinese food, he and Mr. Michael hosted Lyft’s president, John Zimmer, who asked for 15 percent of Uber in exchange for selling Lyft. Over the next hour, Mr. Kalanick and Mr. Michael repeatedly laughed at Mr. Zimmer’s audacious request."<p>Did they laugh at him to his face, cause if it was just the two of them...
Is there a possibility of a class action lawsuit against Apple for this? They knowingly let Uber track customers after the app was removed. Isn't any user who deleted the app during that time allowed damages?
The buried lede here is that Apple did nothing to protect users from a company that openly and willfully strip-mined their privacy in violation of App Store rules.
Quote: "In a quest to build Uber into the world’s dominant ride-hailing entity, Mr. Kalanick has openly disregarded many rules and norms, backing down only when caught or cornered. He has flouted transportation and safety regulations, bucked against entrenched competitors and capitalized on legal loopholes and gray areas to gain a business advantage."<p>This is classic malignant narcissism[1]. The irony of the story is that it describes a confrontation with Apple, which became successful through the machinations of another malignant narcissist, Steve Jobs.<p>1. <a href="https://arachnoid.com/ChildrenOfNarcissus" rel="nofollow">https://arachnoid.com/ChildrenOfNarcissus</a>