Uber faces irate UK regulator

The UK regulator in charge of data privacy is looking into the major hack of Uber’s user data, opening up yet another front in the firm’s battle to manage one of its most successful markets.

The UK regulator in charge of data privacy is looking into the major hack of Uber’s user data, opening up yet another front in the ride-hailing firm’s battle to manage one of its most successful markets.

Hackers stole the personal data of 57-million customers and drivers from Uber, a breach that the company concealed for more than a year.

“Uber’s announcement about a concealed data breach last October raises huge concerns around its data protection policies and ethics,” said James Dipple-Johnston, the deputy commissioner at the Information Commissioner’s Office. “If UK citizens were affected then we should have been notified.”

Compromised data from the October 2016 attack included names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers of 50-million Uber riders around the world, the company said on Tuesday.

Concealing breaches from regulators and citizens could attract higher fines for companies, Dipple-Johnston said.

A spokesman from Uber said the company was in the process of notifying various regulatory and government authorities.

The UK is Uber’s largest European hub. Yet in a surprise decision, London’s transport regulator proposed it be banned from the capital because of safety concerns. Uber’s appeal against Transport for London’s decision to revoke its licence will be held on December 11. Earlier in November, Uber lost an appeal over whether it should pay overtime and give holiday time to British drivers.

Uber has launched a major lobbying effort to rectify its UK image. In October, it hired Laurel Powers-Freeling, a banking veteran, as UK independent nonexecutive chairwoman and new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi flew to London in an attempt to smooth relations with transport regulators.

COMPROMISED DATA … INCLUDED NAMES, E-MAIL ADDRESSES AND PHONE NUMBERS OF 50-MILLION UBER RIDERS