For the co-founder of Uber, violence against drivers is a tool for growth

The Uber files reveal some shady practices.

Lots of stolen documents overshadow the start of today’s hugely popular Uber. Dubbed Uber Files, the leak includes about 124,000 internal documents, including 83,000 emails and text messages exchanged between former CEO Travis Kalanick and other executives between 2013 and 2017, when Travis Kalanick stepped down as CEO. director.

Uber Files Reveal Questionable Practices

Together with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), The Guardian shared these documents with 180 journalists from 40 media outlets in 29 countries. The documents show the company is willing to do things that its own executives considered “really illegal.”

In 2016, for example, Travis Kalanick allegedly asked French employees to encourage Uber drivers to organize a counter protest against taxis. When an executive alerted Travis Kalanick to the presence of “far-right thugs,”the former CEO responded, “I think it’s worth it. […] Violence guarantees success. And you have to resist these guys, right?

Mostly, it seems, spurred on by its former CEO, Travis Kalanick.

The former executive told The Guardian that Travis Kalanick’s response went hand in hand with a strategy to “arm”drivers, a move the company has replicated in other countries.

From other documents, we learn how the company managed to escape from the authorities. On at least 12 occasions, Uber has ordered its employees in six countries, including France, the Netherlands and India, to use a “kill switch,” a tool the company has developed to protect its data. “Please use the switch as soon as possible. Access must be closed in AMS”, referring to the Amsterdam offices. In Montreal, authorities went into offices twice to see all computers and all tablets wiped at the same time. The software was no longer used after 2017, according to Uber.

Following the release of these documents, Jill Hazelbaker, vice president of marketing and public relations for Uber, stated: “We have no excuse for such past behavior that is not in line with our current values. Instead, we are asking the public to judge us on what we have done in the past five years and what we will be doing in the coming years.”