Inquiry into Uber expanded by DoJ
AN INQUIRY by the US Department of Justice into Uber’s use of a program to deceive some regulators has expanded.
The ride-hailing company has been under scrutiny from the Justice Department over a tool called Greyball. The Greyball tool allowed Uber to deploy what was essentially a fake version of its app to evade law enforcement agencies trying to clamp down on its service in cities including Boston, Las Vegas and Portland, Oregon.
The Justice Department earlier opened an inquiry into Uber’s use of Greyball in Portland, city officials there disclosed in a transportation audit last week. Portland was also moving ahead with subpoenaing Uber on Greyball, an official there said on Friday, affirming that the federal action was a criminal investigation.
Now the inquiry has widened to include Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Parking Authority, a state-governed transportation agency, said it was contacted by the Justice Department and asked to hand over information regarding Uber and its use of special software to enter and operate in certain markets.
“The PPA is cooperating with federal law enforcement officials and providing all of the information that we have” about Greyball, Martin O’Rourke, a department spokesman, said in a statement. WHYY, a Philadelphia public radio station, earlier reported the agency had been contacted by the Justice Department.
Uber declined to comment on the transit agency’s actions or the federal inquiry.
The growing investigation added to the woes of Uber, the world’s dominant ride-summoning service. This year, the company has also grappled with allegations of a harassment-ridden workplace culture and questions over the leader- ship of its chief executive, Travis Kalanick. In addition, Uber is embroiled in a bitter lawsuit with Waymo, the self-driving car unit spun out of Google’s parent company, over accusations of stolen trade secrets.
Greyball, which Uber began using as early as 2014, was sometimes deployed when the company started service in a city without permission. Uber has argued the tool had legitimate uses, such as disguising the locations of drivers from competitors or would-be attackers.
Uber now operates in both Portland and Philadelphia legally.
Dan Saltzman, commissioner of the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said the city would continue looking into Greyball.
“We support the criminal investigation by the United States Department of Justice into Uber’s use of the Greyball tool to evade regulators, and will continue to move forward with our own efforts to sub- poena the requested records from Uber,” Saltzman said in a statement.
The agency is seeking Uber’s records related to Greyball, according to the statement.
In response, Bryce Bennett, Uber’s general manager for Oregon, said in a statement that Portland’s transportation audit had “found no evidence that Uber has used Greyball or any technology to avoid city inspectors since the Council passed laws allowing ride sharing services to operate in Portland in 2015”. Bennett added that Uber has been in weekly compliance calls and meetings with Portland transportation officials for more than two years.
Uber said it has since discontinued the use of Greyball. In March, not long after the New York Times reported on Greyball, Joe Sullivan, Uber’s chief security officer, said the company was conducting a review of how the technology had been used.