‘Uber misled controls authorities with hidden tool’

For years, Uber has reportedly deployed a software tool to identify officials investigating the taxi service. Inspectors were barred from requesting rides by the tool, called Greyball.

The news comes from The New York Times, which has spoken to several anonymous individuals about the surreptitious software tool in the UberX application. These people would be current and former employees of the company. Uber itself has not responded substantively to the reports. According to the paper, Uber hid a tool in its taxi application for years that attempted to lock out officials to prevent them from catching illegal taxi rides.

According to The New York Times, the tool is called Greyball and has been used for years. The software identified officials based on information collected in the app and banned them from using Uber. For example, Uber users who were found to be investigating the taxi service would not be offered drivers. This happened without the official’s knowledge; for example, Uber cars in the vicinity would be shown within the app, when in fact they were not present. Showing ‘ghost cars’ would prevent the official in question from getting a ride.

Using credit card information, among other things, it was determined whether a user was possibly part of a government organization, according to The New York Times. Users who frequently opened and closed the app were also suspicious. Where information from the software proved insufficient, Uber employees were deployed to investigate which officials are active in the taxi service, including by checking social media. That information was then surreptitiously deployed within the app.

Greyball is said to have been part of a program called Vtos, or violation of terms of service. Within that program, Uber tried to exclude people who did not follow the terms of the app. The company has admitted that it has a program to detect violations of the terms, but would not disclose anything about the Greyball program.

The New York Times reports that Greyball has been used for years, probably continuing into 2015. The software was used in several major US cities, including in places where Uber has since been banned.