--- title: "Does Uber Have Any User Trust Left To Spare?" description: "Ridesharing app Uber agreed to pay a whopping $148 million fine today for covering up a 2016 hack — and bribing the hackers not to release the data." date: "2018-09-27" modified: "2018-09-27" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/uber-hack-trust" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "travis kalanick" - "trust" - "Uber" - "waymo" --- # Does Uber Have Any User Trust Left To Spare? ![Ridesharing app Uber agreed to pay a whopping $148 million fine today for covering up a 2016 hack — and bribing the hackers not to release the data.]() *\Image: Uber\* Today, ridesharing app Uber agreed to pay a whopping $148 million for covering up a 2016 hack — and [bribing the hackers]() not to release the data. The fine, which will be paid to all 50 states and the District of Columbia, is the largest payout ever for a data breach, [*Bloomberg* reports](). "Uber's decision to cover up this breach was a blatant violation of the public's trust," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said [in a statement](). "The company failed to safeguard user data and notify authorities when it was exposed. Consistent with its corporate culture at the time, Uber swept the breach under the rug in deliberate disregard of the law." Uber once looked like a cutting-edge plan for the future of transportation — decentralizing it by giving drivers part-time work. But the fine caps a years-long series of scandals and missteps that has frayed the public trust in the company — a violation that has serious financial repercussions. Let's recall Uber's Very Bad Few Years. There was the [viral blog post]() by a former engineer who detailed rampant harassment at the company. Then the nasty court case, [ultimately settled](), in which Alphabet's autonomous car startup Waymo alleged that Uber had stolen its trade secrets. There was the video of then-CEO Travis Kalanick [berating an Uber driver]() who complained about the company's [notoriously low pay](). There was Uber's decision to continue making trips to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport even after taxi [drivers refused the serve]() the route to protest against the Trump administration's travel ban. And, of course, there was the hack of 57 million Uber users and drivers' information, *plus* the company's $100,000 bribe to get the hackers to delete it. Even if you were gung-ho about Uber's vision for the future, it was hard to stay in their corner through all that. For Uber, it all adds up to a crisis of consumer confidence. To make matters worse, competitor Lyft has [edged in](), capturing 35 percent of the ridesharing market earlier this year. Uber has already started to kick some of its bad habits. In 2017, it ousted Kalanick and replaced him with a [CEO who has pledged to]() "celebrate differences" and "do the right thing." This month, it pledged $10 million to [fight street congestion](). But for some riders, it's going to take more than a few band-aids to build back trust — they'll need to see a sustained pattern of good behavior. Paying a huge fine isn't a solution, but it's a place to start. ***More on Uber: [Uber’s CEO Knows We Need Equality To Move The World Forward]()*** ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()