RantCrush Top 5: March 6, 2017

On Friday it was revealed that Uber has used a tool called Greyball to dodge authorities in cities or states where the ride-hailing service was banned or not yet legal. The tool collects data from users’ apps and combines it with some other methods to identify law enforcement officials. It then marks those people in the drivers’ apps, so that drivers can actively avoid getting caught by officials who try to clamp down on the service by requesting rides.

The function has been used nationally and internationally, in places like Australia, China, and South Korea, and is still in use in many of them. Uber is already under scrutiny for its workplace ethics and the behavior of CEO Travis Kalanick, but this latest revelation is incredibly concerning and some city officials are pretty outraged.

Calls for Uber to be investigated over ‘greyball’ tactics to evade authorities https://t.co/4KNPg1Nk9j via @smh

— NSW Taxi Council (@nswtaxi) March 5, 2017

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.