Stock Market News
Uber used secret system to lock down computers in police raids
Former Uber employees have confirmed the company routinely used a software system called Ripley to lock computers from tax investigators between 2015 and 2016.
The software, named after Sigourney Weaver's character in the Alien franchise, would lock down computers to prevent the police or anyone outside the company from accessing data. It was developed as the "unexpected visitor protocol" after a police raid in Brussels seized the company's financial, payments and worker documents.
The three people with knowledge of the programme have said that in some cases the use of Ripley was justified since the police sometimes barged in without warrants, although the software was still kept a close secret.
Ripley was used in 2015 and 2016 in overseas offices including in Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Hong Kong, according to Bloomberg.
In one case the software was used to prevent Canadian tax investigators from collecting evidence on possibly violated tax laws. When the officials arrived at the office in Montreal, the headquarters in San Francisco logged everyone off their computers.
Uber has spoken out about the issue and said the tool is very common among companies who wish to protect their information.
"Like every company with offices around the world, we have security procedures in place to protect corporate and customer data," said an Uber spokeswoman. "When it comes to government investigations, it's our policy to cooperate with all valid searches and requests for data."
It's not the first time that Uber has developed tools to evade officials, some of which are under investigation in the US.
Uber has been using a tool called Greyball, now under investigation, that ensured drivers wouldn't pick up police officers in cities where it wasn't respecting regulations.
The software, named after Sigourney Weaver's character in the Alien franchise, would lock down computers to prevent the police or anyone outside the company from accessing data. It was developed as the "unexpected visitor protocol" after a police raid in Brussels seized the company's financial, payments and worker documents.
The three people with knowledge of the programme have said that in some cases the use of Ripley was justified since the police sometimes barged in without warrants, although the software was still kept a close secret.
Ripley was used in 2015 and 2016 in overseas offices including in Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Hong Kong, according to Bloomberg.
In one case the software was used to prevent Canadian tax investigators from collecting evidence on possibly violated tax laws. When the officials arrived at the office in Montreal, the headquarters in San Francisco logged everyone off their computers.
Uber has spoken out about the issue and said the tool is very common among companies who wish to protect their information.
"Like every company with offices around the world, we have security procedures in place to protect corporate and customer data," said an Uber spokeswoman. "When it comes to government investigations, it's our policy to cooperate with all valid searches and requests for data."
It's not the first time that Uber has developed tools to evade officials, some of which are under investigation in the US.
Uber has been using a tool called Greyball, now under investigation, that ensured drivers wouldn't pick up police officers in cities where it wasn't respecting regulations.
Related share prices |
---|
Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk
Get a free widget for your website with our latest headlines.
You can now add our live prices and new headlines to your website.The news widget features quotes for Oil prices, spot Gold price and Indices plus a choice of news channel for healines.
Top Shares pages
- Share price quotes
- Share charts
- Share watch list
- Company Results Calendar
- Top Large UK Shares
- UK Market Sectors
- Stock market news
- Company news
- Share tips
- A-Z company search
More share features
POPULAR Share Prices
- Royal Mail share price
- Lloyds share price
- HSBC share price
- Barclays share price
- Prudential share price
- Santander share price
- NEXT share price
- Diageo share price
- BP share price
- Vodafone share price
- British Airways
- Centrica share price
- Tesco share price
- Taylor Wimpey Share Price
- National Grid
- GKP Share Price
- Marks and Spencer
- Rolls Royce
- Rio Tinto
- THG Share Price
- Aviva Share Price
- Boil Share price
- Easyjet Share Price
- Genedrive Share Price
- SSE Share Price
- IAG Share Price
- Boohoo share price
- HE1 share price
- AVCT share price
- BOOM share price