Letter sheds light on Uber’s alleged shady tactics

SAN FRANCISCO — A former Uber security specialist accused the company of dispatching spies to steal its rivals’ trade secrets and using shady tactics to thwart its competition in the ride-hailing market, according an inflammatory letter unsealed Friday by a federal judge.

Those tactics allegedly included impersonating other people, illegally recording conversations and hacking into computers.

Former Uber manager Richard Jacobs, who was fired this year, made the claims in a 37-page letter that sought a big payoff for being forced out. The letter, written by a lawyer on Jacobs’ behalf, has already reshaped a high-profile trial pitting Uber against Waymo, a Google spinoff that accuses its rival of stealing its self-driving car technology.

Although most of Jacobs’ most damaging allegations were aired in court hearings two weeks ago, the letter’s release sheds more light on the no-holdsbarred culture that former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick encouraged. Uber has tried to recast itself as a betterbehaved company under a new management team led by Dara Khosrowshahi.

“While we haven’t substantiated all the claims” in Jacobs’ letter, Uber said Friday, “… our new leadership has made clear that going forward we will compete honestly and fairly, on the strength of our ideas and technology.”