Uber on Tuesday welcomed the resolution of its dispute with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which accused the company of “failing consumers” in terms of protecting their privacy, as well as securing sensitive data belonging to its own drivers. In a statement provided to Android Headlines, a Uber spokesperson said that the San Francisco, California-based ride-hailing giant improved its data security and general privacy practices in a significant manner in the last three years since the first charges against it were brought to the federal agency’s attention. The firm pointed to the hiring of Joe Sullivan who became its first Chief Security Officer in April 2015 as one notable example of its intensifying efforts on the security front, adding how “hundreds of trained professionals dedicated to protecting user information” are now working for Uber, doing their best to prevent any data breaches in the future.
The data security practices that Uber is currently employing will be additionally strengthened in the coming months as part of its settlement with the FTC, the company said, describing the resolution as “an opportunity” that will allow it to collaborate with the federal regulator more closely and verify that its present programs and future changes are effective. Uber agreed to organize an independent audit of its practices within the next 180 days and also accepted future third-party reviews of its related operations every two years for the next decade, the FTC revealed on Tuesday. The firm also vowed to stop misrepresenting its past efforts in this regard that the federal agency deemed were insufficient, in addition to promising to implement more privacy protection programs in the future.
The latest development allowed Uber to resolve one of the many issues that are currently troubling the company which is still involved in a massive legal battle with Alphabet’s Waymo over supposed trade secret theft and is also currently searching for a new Chief Executive Officer after its co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick was forced to resign his position in June amidst pressure from a number of major investors, one of whom even sued him for fraud earlier this month.