Photo: YouTube screenshot
2017 will not go down as one of the greatest years in Uber's history as during these 325 days (with 40 remaining until we'll be drunk and yelling "Year New happy!" or whatever our brains will feel like spurting out) the company lost its CEO, Travis Kalanick, and was dragged through a series of lawsuits that saw it spend a lot of cash.
Two months ago, the City of London announced it would not renew Uber's license to operate within its limits. The statement at that time said that "TfL (Transport for London) considers that Uber's approach and conduct demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications.”
The new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, who was appointed a few weeks before the London situation, is faced with dragging the multi-billion company out of the pit it had dug for itself and prepare it for the completely different future that awaits us.
One of the directions that Uber seems to be determined to follow is that of autonomous driving, a technology that would immediately eliminate the biggest cause of problems for the company, not to mention reduce the costs significantly: the drivers.
This Monday, Uber announced it would buy 24,000 Volvo XC90 SUVs from the Swedish manufacturer which would serve as the fleet for its RoboTaxi program, suggesting the self-driving project is up and running at full speed.
Now, though, a new situation has surfaced, this time brought forward by the company itself. It seems like more than a year ago, a group of hackers managed to break into Uber Technologies Inc.'s database and gain access to the personal information of 57 million customers and drivers worldwide.
The hackers obtained the names, email addresses, and telephone numbers of the victims, as well as about 600,000 driver's license numbers from Uber drivers. The company highlighted that credit card information or Social Security numbers of their clients were never in danger.
According to Bloomberg, Uber covered everything up for more than a year by paying the hackers $100,000 in exchange for their silence. Now, though, Dara Khosrowshahi decided to bring the whole thing forward in an attempt to show the company's new way of doing business. Joe Sullivan, the chief of security, has been dismissed from the company.
“While I can’t erase the past, I can commit on behalf of every Uber employee that we will learn from our mistakes,” Khosrowshahi said. “None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it. We are changing the way we do business.”
The new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, who was appointed a few weeks before the London situation, is faced with dragging the multi-billion company out of the pit it had dug for itself and prepare it for the completely different future that awaits us.
One of the directions that Uber seems to be determined to follow is that of autonomous driving, a technology that would immediately eliminate the biggest cause of problems for the company, not to mention reduce the costs significantly: the drivers.
This Monday, Uber announced it would buy 24,000 Volvo XC90 SUVs from the Swedish manufacturer which would serve as the fleet for its RoboTaxi program, suggesting the self-driving project is up and running at full speed.
Now, though, a new situation has surfaced, this time brought forward by the company itself. It seems like more than a year ago, a group of hackers managed to break into Uber Technologies Inc.'s database and gain access to the personal information of 57 million customers and drivers worldwide.
The hackers obtained the names, email addresses, and telephone numbers of the victims, as well as about 600,000 driver's license numbers from Uber drivers. The company highlighted that credit card information or Social Security numbers of their clients were never in danger.
According to Bloomberg, Uber covered everything up for more than a year by paying the hackers $100,000 in exchange for their silence. Now, though, Dara Khosrowshahi decided to bring the whole thing forward in an attempt to show the company's new way of doing business. Joe Sullivan, the chief of security, has been dismissed from the company.
“While I can’t erase the past, I can commit on behalf of every Uber employee that we will learn from our mistakes,” Khosrowshahi said. “None of this should have happened, and I will not make excuses for it. We are changing the way we do business.”
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