FBI probes Uber over illegal tracking of Lyft drivers

Uber has confirmed it is co-operating with the New York Federal Bureau of Investigation over whether it interfered illegally with its competitor, Lyft, using a programme that tracked Lyft drivers’ locations.

The software, known internally at Uber as "Hell", is no longer operational, and a lawsuit brought by a Lyft driver over the programme was dismissed by a California Court last week.

The FBI investigation, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, adds to the growing list of federal investigations facing the company, presenting a challenge for its new chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi as he tries to restore Uber's image and morale.

Uber is also facing a criminal investigation by the US Justice Department over its use of a different software programme, "Greyball", which was used to evade regulators in certain cities by presenting them with a fake view of the app that did not show where the real drivers were. That probe was confirmed by authorities in Portland.

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At the same time, a preliminary investigation, again by the Justice Department, is under way over possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by Uber. The company previously confirmed it was co-operating with that inquiry.

Mr Khosrowshahi, who took up his job at Uber on Tuesday, has not yet made any comment on the list of legal probes.

One of his first tasks is to refill the executive ranks at Uber, where vacant positions include chief financial officer, chief operating officer – and general counsel.

Uber’s rivalry with Lyft, which is based in San Francisco, has intensified in recent months, as Uber has lost market share. In recent years, both companies have been accused of violating the law in their quest to obtain more information about each other, particularly about each other’s drivers.

One early manifestation of that competition was the ‘Hell’ programme, now defunct, which Uber used to access pricing and driver locations from the Lyft app.

The software worked by posing like a regular Lyft rider, and then “scraping” data from the Lyft app such as the location of cars and the price of a ride, all of which would be publicly available to a regular Lyft passenger.

- (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2017)