• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechUber Technologies

Uber To Settle With N.Y. Attorney General Over ‘God View’ Privacy Breach

By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kia Kokalitcheva
Kia Kokalitcheva
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 6, 2016, 9:07 PM ET
Uber At $40 Billion Valuation Would Eclipse Twitter And Hertz
The Uber Technologies Inc. logo is displayed on the window of a vehicle after dropping off a passenger at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2014. Uber Technologies Inc. investors are betting the five-year-old car-booking app is more valuable than Twitter Inc. and Hertz Global Holdings Inc. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Andrew Harrer — Bloomberg via Getty Images

After a 14-month long investigation, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is expected to announce on Thursday a settlement involving ride-hailing app Uber’s privacy practices, according to a report from BuzzFeed.

The inquiry began after a series of BuzzFeed reports that revealed that Uber’s New York manager, Josh Mohrer, had accessed information about reporters’ use of the service without their permission, including through the company’s “God View” tool. The tool shows an aerial view of all passengers and drivers in a particular area.

SIGN UP: Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter about the business of technology.

Around the time of of the Uber dust-up, rival Lyft also updated its privacy policy and practices following a report from Re/code that a Lyft executive had accessed one of its own journalists’ data.

As part of the settlement, Uber will pay $20,000 in fines for failing to report unauthorized third-party access to drivers’ personal information until months after discovering it. This is related to a data breach that occurred in May 2014, after an Uber engineer unknowingly posted online login information for a private database containing driver information. Uber discovered this a few months later, in September, when a former employee from a competitor revealed the problem, according to the report.

WATCH: For more on Uber’s data breach, watch this Fortune video:

As part of the planned settlement, Uber has also agreed to make changes to its privacy and security practices, according to Buzzfeed. This would include password-protection and encryption for the location data of passengers and drivers, limiting employee access to the data, and adding more security tools to protect personal information. As BuzzFeed notes, much of Uber’s new policy on accessing passenger data was included in an update to the company’s privacy policy issued a day after reports of an Uber executive’s comments about doing research on journalists.

Uber also agreed to notify the Attorney General’s office if it begins to collect GPS data from customers’ smartphones when they’re not using the app, something the company claims it doesn’t do, according to BuzzFeed.

About the Author
By Kia Kokalitcheva
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Big TechAmerican Politics
Your spend as a ‘weapon’: Scott Galloway’s ‘Resist and Unsubscribe’ movement asks you to ditch Amazon, Apple, and Netflix to oppose Trump
By Kristin StollerFebruary 28, 2026
3 hours ago
world's fair
CommentaryRobots
Something big is happening in AI, but panic is the wrong reaction
By Peter CappelliFebruary 28, 2026
4 hours ago
AIMarkets
The week the AI scare turned real and America realized maybe it isn’t ready for what’s coming
By Nick LichtenbergFebruary 28, 2026
5 hours ago
AIFinance
She joined Block to build AI. Weeks later, AI cost her job.
By Sheryl EstradaFebruary 28, 2026
5 hours ago
Form Energy CEO Mateo Jaramillo is pictured at Form Factory 1 in Weirton, West Virginia.
Energybatteries
Google is building a bevy of renewable energy in Minnesota—including the world’s largest battery system providing power for a whopping 100 hours
By Jordan BlumFebruary 28, 2026
7 hours ago
sam altman
AIOpenAI
OpenAI strikes a deal with the Pentagon just hours after Trump orders the end of Anthropic contracts, and hours after a staff all-hands
By Sharon GoldmanFebruary 27, 2026
16 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Success
Japanese companies are paying older workers to sit by a window and do nothing—while Western CEOs demand super-AI productivity just to keep your job
By Orianna Rosa RoyleFebruary 27, 2026
24 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Walmart exec says U.S. workforces needs to take inspiration from China where ‘5 year-olds are learning DeepSeek’
By Preston ForeFebruary 27, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Commentary
'The Pitt': a masterclass display of DEI in action 
By Robert RabenFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Innovation
An MIT roboticist who cofounded bankrupt robot vacuum maker iRobot says Elon Musk’s vision of humanoid robot assistants is ‘pure fantasy thinking’
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezFebruary 25, 2026
3 days ago
placeholder alt text
Law
China's government intervenes to show Michigan scientists were carrying worms, not biological materials
By Ed White and The Associated PressFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Come 2030, the U.S. deficit will be worth 5.9% of GDP—more than spending on Social Security, and equal to major health programs
By Eleanor PringleFebruary 26, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.