Uber is determined to put to rest some of the issues that have been haunting its ranks. The ride hailing service made headlines after agreeing to open their books for audit in the next 20 Years.
Uber faced several FTC complaints
The United States Federal Trade Commission has raised allegations against the ride hailing app. According to the FTC, the service provider is guilty of releasing misleading forecasts about possible earnings. The ride hailing service was also accused of allegedly making deceptive claims on their policies to safeguard privacy and data security.
The original complaints dates back to 2014. FTC noted that the ride hailing app failed to establish a specific set of regulations to monitor data access of its employees. According to FTC, Uber’s employees can freely browse through its database of riders and drivers. The service provider argued that there was a security system in place, but the FTC ruled out that it was not sufficient.
Another FTC case focused on Uber’s “god view” system. The said system allowed employees to track Uber trips in real time. In 2014, Uber suffered a data breach that resulted in the leak of private information of 50,000 Uber drivers. Following the incident, the state of New York conducted a privacy and data security investigation.
The results of the investigation cost Uber a total of $20,000 in fines.
FTC highlighted several other breaches in Uber's security system. According to Cnet, the Uber provided all its engineers with a single access key. The code gave engineers unlimited access to Uber data stored in the Amazon Web Services. The ride hailing service was also accused of lacking a multi factor authentication to access.
Uber also failed to incorporate an encryption security for personal user information.
Uber and FTC comes into agreement
Android Headlines reports that Uber is now determined to put the cases to rest. In order to do so, the ride hailing app have agreed to launch a new privacy program that will address the concern if safeguarding the privacy of its user data.
The agreement required Uber to submit their books to an independent privacy audit for the next 20 years.
In a statement forwarded via e-mail, an Uber representative announced that the company is relieved to bring FTC's investigations to a close finally. The representative also emphasized that they have implemented policies to strengthen its data security and privacy practices significantly. In fact, the company hired its first Chief Security Officer in 2015 and currently employs hundreds of professionals to ensure that their user information is protected.
