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Collecting intelligence is one thing. But deliberately abusing your competitor's systems in a way they did not intend to allow in order to collect intelligence
by eridius 10y ago
Collecting intelligence is one thing. But deliberately abusing your competitor's systems in a way they did not intend to allow in order to collect intelligence is not only ethically wrong, but also likely illegal, as this article mentions.
- ckastner 10y agoIndeed. Quoting the article: Hell originated after Uber created fake rider accounts on Lyft and used software to trick Lyft’s system into thinking those riders were in certain locations. This allowed Uber to see the eight closest available Lyft drivers to each fake rider.
- patrickg_zill 10y agoIf using the Android app, they could have easily run 1 or more copies in an emulator on a desktop system, setting GPS to whatever they wanted.
- thewhitetulip 10y agoeven android developer settings allows us to mock locations, no need for an emulator!
- dnautics 10y agoThis is a very "benign" fake, akin to scraping a website for information... Moreover, you could just as easily do it with a 'real' account; and just use the 'real' account far... Less often than you're using it to scrape the info.
- ckastner 10y agoThis wasn't public information to be scraped, hence the requirement for an account. Creating fake accounts for this purpose is a violation of the current terms of service [1] (these might have been different in 2016): 9. Restricted Activities h. forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any information transmitted through the Lyft Platform; l. use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other manual or automatic device or process to retrieve, index, scrape, “data mine”, or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Lyft Platform or its contents; [1] https://www.lyft.com/terms https://www.lyft.com/terms
- andoon 10y agoTerms of service are not law. When an end user breaks the terms of service of whatever system, most people would say that terms of service mean nothing. But since it's Uber, uuuuh, the scary terms of service!!!
- UncleMeat 10y agoWith how the CFAA works, yes this sort of thing can absolutely be against the law. "Unauthorized" is a pretty broad term.
- jessicaclark33 10y agoThat's just nasty!
- dnautics 10y agoit's likely not defensible in court. Let's say Uber was smart (i have no idea if they actually were) and used the account to monitor lyft demand, and every so often, sent the account on an actual ride, say, with one of their recruiters, to try and hook a lyft driver.... Then the account is being used for 'legit' purposes; where do you draw the line?
- ckastner 10y agoAt the first illegitimate use.
- dnautics 10y agoIf an uber employee looks at the screen using mark one eyeball and by hand notes that it's on primetime, is that "illegitimate"?
- pluma 10y agoIf you illegitimately gain access to privileged information and use that information illegitimately for financial gain, yes, that still counts even if it was done with the most primitive technology. That you have access to information (whether accidental or through deception) doesn't mean you're free to use that information any way you please. Especially when it comes to anti-competitive business practices.