Summary
“For years, Uber used a secretive software tool known internally as “Greyball” to identify and steer its drivers clear of potential threats ― including law enforcement officers hoping to catch Uber operating in their cities illegally.
According to the New York Times, which first reported the story, the company deployed the software in cities that deemed the ride-hailing service illegal or otherwise tried to slow the company’s rapid expansion.
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That logic seemed pretty sound to Robert Weisberg, a Stanford Law professor and the co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center, though he said he’d need to know the particulars of how it operates to be certain.
“I’m not sure there’s anything illegal about it,” Weisberg told HuffPost. He noted prosecutors might have a case for obstruction of justice, but that “usually requires direct interference with the express purpose of preventing police from doing a very specific thing at a very specific time.”
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“If you or I were degenerates and up to no good ― or at least thinking about no good ― I could say, ‘Hey I just saw four cops on this corner, go the other direction’ or something like that,” Weisberg added. “This is just a huge technological enhancement of that capacity.”
With a chuckle, he noted, “There’s great irony here in terms of police surveillance,” given that police departments continually push for an increased ability to track and collect data on private citizens, yet apparently object when the tables are turned.”
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