Uber's secret Hell program violated drivers' privacy, class-action suit claims.

Lawsuit claims Uber engaged in ‘unlawful
invasion of privacy and
interception of electronic communications’.
Photograph: NicolasMcComber/Getty Images

Uber faced yet another challenge on Monday when a former Lyft driver filed a class-action lawsuit alleging that a secret program created by the ride-hailing giant to spy on its rival’s drivers violated federal and state privacy laws.

The program, known internally as Hell, was revealed on 12 April by the tech news site the Information. Uber allegedly used the program to track and identify Lyft drivers, building up profiles of individuals and figuring out who was driving for Uber and Lyft. Uber then prioritized sending rides to drivers who used both apps, hoping to persuade drivers to abandon Lyft, according to the report.

Uber disputed the charge of giving preference to drivers using both services in a comment to the Information but has not commented further on the program.

The lawsuit, filed by Michael Gonzalez, who drove for Lyft from 2012 until November 2014, asserts that in using Hell, Uber engaged in “unlawful invasion of privacy and interception of electronic communications and images”.




Full story at Yahoo News.
By Julia Carrie Wong in San Francisco.