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Another day, another revelation of an ethically questionable business practice by Uber. This time The Information reports<\/a> that Uber secretly tracked Lyft drivers using an internal software program it dubbed\u00a0Hell.<\/p>\n Hell not only let Uber see how many Lyft drivers were available for rides and what their prices were, but also figure out which ones were double-dipping by driving for Uber, too.<\/p>\n This meant Uber had data that made it easier to offer those drivers incentives to switch over to\u00a0Uber exclusively. The software was called Hell in\u00a0reference to \u201cGod View,\u201d its tool for tracking the location of customers<\/a> (God View, also called \u201cHeaven,\u201d was infamously abused by Uber employees\u00a0to stalk journalists, celebrities and ex-girlfriends<\/a>).<\/p>\n The report is yet another stain on Uber\u2019s reputation<\/a>, which has already been sullied by founder and CEO Travis Kalanick\u2019s bratty behavior<\/a>, many incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination<\/a>\u00a0and an ongoing court battle with Alphabet-owned Waymo<\/a>\u00a0over Uber\u2019s alleged theft of intellectual property. Uber\u2019s head of communications Rachel Whetstone recently quit, reportedly because of conflicts with Kalanick<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to The Information\u2019s sources, Uber stopped using Hell in early 2016, around the time Lyft closed a $1 billion funding round<\/a>. Only a few people at Uber knew about Hell, including Kalanick, several other executives and data scientists.<\/p>\n Hell originated after Uber created fake rider accounts on Lyft and used software to trick Lyft\u2019s system into thinking those riders were in certain locations. This allowed Uber to see the eight closest available Lyft drivers to each\u00a0fake rider.<\/p>\n Then Uber executives realized that Lyft had assigned a numerical user ID to each of its drivers. This bonanza allowed them to start long-term tracking of Lyft drivers and deduce\u00a0who also drove for Uber. Once Uber knew when and where they tended to log onto Lyft, the company was able to offer drivers incentives\u2013including financial bonuses\u2013created to convince them to use only Uber.<\/p>\n The Information talked to lawyers from firms who have represented Uber in other cases who said Uber can potentially face civil legal claims related to its use of Hell. These include breach of contract, unfair business practices, stealing trade secrets and violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. A Uber spokesman told The Information that the company won\u2019t publicly discuss its internal processes, while Lyft said \u201cWe are in a competitive industry. However, if true, these allegations are very concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n Featured Image: Michael Duva<\/a>\/Getty Images<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com\/2017\/04\/gettyimages-682788603.jpg?w=680\")
Another day, another revelation of an ethically questionable business practice by Uber. This time The Information reports that Uber secretly tracked Lyft drivers using an internal software program it dubbed Hell. Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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