NELP on Uber Data Breach

In response to reports that Uber paid $100,000 to hackers to cover up a data breach of 57 million customers and 600,000 drivers, Rebecca Smith, senior counsel at the National Employment Law Project, issued the following statement:

“It’s long been clear that Uber views its drivers simply as profit centers, not as people. This attitude extends to their right to privacy, and, in this case, to their very identity. The same chief security officer who didn’t see fit to tell drivers they’d been the victims of identity theft had earlier approved the surveillance of drivers’ every move via their smartphones.

“With each new scandal at Uber we see the same cycle of apologies and house-clearing, but it’s clear that Uber’s real problem is systemic. This company has little regard for its customers or the rule of law, and no regard whatsoever for the drivers who make its profits possible. It’s time for Uber to start from scratch, beginning with respecting its drivers and the public.”

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The National Employment Law Project is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts research and advocates on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers. Earlier this year it joined dozens of research, labor, and advocacy organizations in urging an open letter urging the company to radically transform its corporate culture and the way it treats its workers.