Uber Location Data: Employees Allowed To Track Customers, According To Lawsuit

A lawsuit filed against Uber by a former employee alleges the company’s tracking system has been abused by its employees to keep tabs on “high profile politicians, celebrities and even personal acquaintances.”

The case, which is highlighted in a story from the Center for Investigative Reporting, comes from Ward Spangenberg, a former forensic investigator employed by Uber. The 45-year-old is suing Uber of age discrimination and whistleblower retaliation, and delivered a couple bombshell accusations along the way regarding how Uber handles user data.

In a court declaration, Spangenberg detailed some of the weak security protocols he claims the company used, including allowing a considerable number of employees the ability to track users on the platform—a feature that Spangenberg said was abused to track noteworthy people as well as “ex-boyfriends/girlfriends, and ex-spouses.”

The Center for Investigative Reporting noted it spoke with five former Uber security professionals who claimed the company provides broad access to user data, allowing “thousands of employees” throughout the company to see the details of customer travels.

In response to the report, an Uber spokesperson told IBTimes, “Uber continues to increase our security investments and many of these efforts, like our multi-factor authentication checks and bug bounty program, have been widely reported.”

“We have hundreds of security and privacy experts working around the clock to protect our data. This includes enforcing strict policies and technical controls to limit access to user data to authorized employees solely for purposes of their job responsibilities, and all potential violations are quickly and thoroughly investigated,” the spokesperson said.

Uber argues it has technical and administrative controls to limit access to customer data to employees who require it to perform their jobs. The company claims all data access is logged and regularly audited, and potential violations are quickly and thoroughly looked into.

Yet Uber has come under fire before for improper access of customer data. A BuzzFeed reporter was subjected to tracking without her permission. Soon after the incident, an Uber executive suggested digging up dirt on reporters who offered coverage critical of the company. Entrepreneur Peter Sims also was reportedly tracked by Uber.

The tool Uber employees used to do that tracking—and apparently much more, if Spangenberg is right—is known as God View. It’s an overhead map that displays the location of Uber vehicles and riders.

God View landed Uber in hot water with legislators following reports the company was using it to track journalists, and the company was hit with a $20,000 settlement agreement for misuse of the privacy-violating tool.

Uber’s apparent power to keep tabs on all users of the app is sure to raise further questions about the company’s security practices, especially following a recent update to its app that requests users allow Uber to track their location even when not using the service.