Uber Ripley Program: Company Shut Down Computers To Block Law Enforcement Access

In order to deal with its perpetual run-ins with regulators and law enforcement, ride-sharing app Uber developed a program that could remotely shut down all computers in an office in order to thwart police raids, Bloomberg reported .

The program, known internally as Ripley, was put into action at least two dozen times in order to prevent regulators and law enforcement from gaining access to information from the company’s computers—even when a proper warrant was provided.

Uber reportedly trained its employees working in foreign offices to utilize Ripley any time police came knocking at their door. During such an event, a manager would call a number for a phone in the company headquarters in San Francisco. There, a special team was waiting to field the call and spring into action.

That team would execute a remote program that would log off every computer in the office that was being raided. The Ripley program could also be used to remotely change passwords and lock access to smartphones, laptops and desktops that might be subject to search. The system left law enforcement with no access to the information they sought.

In one example provided by Bloomberg, Uber’s offices in Montreal used the Riley program to avoid handing over documents to regulators from the Quebec tax authority. The government officials reportedly had a warrant to collect evidence regarding potential tax law violations but left the office with no information.

Uber employees took to calling the program Ripley after Sigourney Weaver’s character in the ‘Alien’ movies. The name was inspired by a line from Ripley in ‘Aliens’ in which the hero of the films says, “Nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”

In addition to Ripley, Uber also reportedly explored other ways to avoid compliance with investigations. One such method it was at one point considering was the use of software that would present a fake version of a standard login screen. The dummy login technique was never implemented, but a prototype of it was developed.

Despite the report that it had a special hotline set up specifically to prevent law enforcement from gaining access to data it had a warrant for, Uber insists that it has no issue with participating in government investigations.

“Like every company with offices around the world, we have security procedures in place to protect corporate and customer data,” Uber said in a statement . “When it comes to government investigations, it’s our policy to cooperate with all valid searches and requests for data.”

This is far from the first time Uber has gone out of its way to protect itself from law enforcement. Last year, it was revealed the company operated a program called Greyball that was used to avoid authorities who may have intended to shut down the company’s operation.

Greyball was used in cities where Uber was operating illegally or had come under scrutiny. The program would cancel rides hailed by those tagged within the system as potential members of law enforcement. It would also populate the map on the Uber app with fake cars to prevent stings against real drivers.