Uber Technologies has said it fixed an app flaw that let unauthorised users pose as drivers before the London regulator refused to grant the ride-hailing service a new licence.
Uber found the flaw, which let 43 drivers swap photos with someone else, in May and informed Transport for London (TfL) immediately, UK head Jamie Heywood said in an interview on Bloomberg TV on Monday.
“We also put in place technical fixes so that it couldn’t happen again,” Mr Heywood said. “The gap was closed. We stopped drivers implicated from taking new trips then did full audits of all drivers in London.”
Uber is pushing back after it lost its license to operate in the British capital for the second time in three years, putting one of its biggest markets outside the US at risk.
Please log in or register with Independent.ie for free access to this article.
Log In
New to Independent.ie? Create an account
TfL said it had failed to address safety concerns.
Uber has 21 days to appeal and can continue to operate while a magistrates’ court considers the decision.
TfL said that’s not good enough. Uber was still implementing safeguards as recently as October, and the regulator isn’t certain that incidents like this can be prevented in the future, a spokesman for TfL said.
At least 14,000 trips involved drivers who weren’t who they said they were. One driver found exploiting Uber’s app had already had a private hire license revoked by the regulator after it discovered the person had received a caution for distributing indecent images of children, a spokesman for TfL said.
Uber had been operating on a two-month license that runs out on Monday, the latest extension while TfL reviewed changes the firm was making to the way it operates.
CEO Dara Khosrowshahi called the decision “just wrong” on his Twitter page.
Uber shares dropped 1.2pc to $29.20 in New York trading at 12:02 p.m. after earlier falling as much as 4pc.
Bloomberg
Source: Read Full Article