Uber has released a transparency report overview of the info it provided to US state and local regulators and law enforcement agencies from July - December 20015. In its FAQs section, Uber states that it “hopes to” disclose information about requests outside of the US. It adds that a large number of law enforcement requests are about fraud investigations or the use of stolen credit cards. Uber has not, so far, received any requests under national security statutes. In the report, it states that regulatory agencies like California Public Utilities Commission and the New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits require regulated transportation companies to report info about their operations, pertaining to riders and drivers during criminal investigations or other emergencies. In the image below, Uber states that info like pick up and drop off locations may allow regulators ‘or anyone else who obtains this information’ to identify individual riders by comparing with publicly available records. Uber says that information such as trips, trip requests, pick up and dropoff areas, fares, vehicles and drivers in the jurisdiction for a particular time period can be requested. As seen below, information on riders in California, New York City, Chicago, Seattle, Houston and Portland was the most requested, while for driver info, California, Virginia, New York City, Nevada and Houston topped the list. Airport authorities ask for data too Uber adds that various airport authorities get into agreements with transportation companies to get info like trip volumes on a monthly basis, time of…
