3 ms·
> I once waited for an Uber that was “just around the corner”, except the blip on the screen with a name and a picture was just a visualisation, there was no ca
by hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
> I once waited for an Uber that was “just around the corner”, except the blip on the screen with a name and a picture was just a visualisation, there was no car. The street it was supposedly stuck in traffic on was empty.
Or maybe they identified you as a threat.[0]
[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-greyball-program-evade-authorities.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/technology/uber-greyball-...
- actionfromafar 3y agoYeah, a threat to their business model.
- sshine 3y agoAlternative link: https://archive.vn/Q3EXM https://archive.vn/Q3EXM > At the time, Uber had just started its ride-hailing service in Portland without seeking permission from the city, which later declared the service illegal. To build a case against the company, officers like Mr. England posed as riders, opening the Uber app to hail a car and watching as miniature vehicles on the screen made their way toward the potential fares. > But unknown to Mr. England and other authorities, some of the digital cars they saw in the app did not represent actual vehicles. And the Uber drivers they were able to hail also quickly canceled. That was because Uber had tagged Mr. England and his colleagues — essentially Greyballing them as city officials — based on data collected from the app and in other ways. The company then served up a fake version of the app, populated with ghost cars, to evade capture. It does sound like I was "greyballed". Imagine a real taxi company doing that. Doesn't seem like a strategy that will keep you popular in town.