The data, including emails, presentations, briefings, text messages and graphics, was leaked to the British newspaper The Guardian, which shared it with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). They were made available to other media partners as part of a transnational research project. In Austria, “profil” and ORF were involved.
Initially, Uber encountered massive resistance and legal obstacles in European countries. According to the documents, the group estimated a lobbying budget of €90 million in 2016 alone to clean them up.
How Uber conquered cities
Research by international journalists reveals that Uber – the ride-hailing operator, started in the US – wanted to conquer the European market quickly and did so with the help of influential lobbying firms, close contacts with responsible politicians and a lot of money.
Macron watched ‘in person’
An exchange of text messages reportedly suggests that current French President Emmanuel Macron, when he was economy minister at the time, opposed an overly critical decree by a French police mayor in 2015 at the company’s request. “I will look into the matter personally,” Macron wrote after the poll – after which the regulation was relaxed the same night.
Uber’s entry into the French market caused major protests among taxi operators at the time. Competition and consumer protection authority DGCCRF, which criticizes Uber, is said to have worked on Macron. And according to published chat logs, Macron was also in direct contact with Travis Kalanick, one of the founders and then head of Uber.
Meeting with Biden and Netanyahu in Davos
According to the research, the fact that then-Vice President Joe Biden praised companies like Uber in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2016 was due to a conversation with Kalanick shortly before. Uber’s boss was unhappy with Biden’s delay: “I let my people know that every minute I’m late is one minute less he’ll have with me,” he wrote in a text message from a colleague.
Also in Davos, Kalanick met with then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the files. On his side, it should be about investing in research, but: At that time, Uber was still banned in Israel. Thus, Kalanick pushed for a corresponding liberalization of the market. According to media reports, Netanyahu then approached his Transport Minister about an Uber approval, which, according to the media, ended in a dispute. Uber was approved in Israel in 2017 but was stopped by a court after a few months. A fresh start happened these days.
From the EU Commission on Uber
At the EU level, Uber has secured the support of EU Commissioner for Digital Affairs Neelie Kroes, according to the report. After leaving Brussels in 2014 and following an 18-month reflection phase imposed by the Commission, the Dutchwoman took up a well-paid consultant position at the US company.
However, documents from the data leak suggest that there was contact between Kroes and Uber before that in connection with a police raid on Uber in Amsterdam in March 2015. The company was therefore very keen to keep it a secret. According to the media, there is a risk that a debate about “the political revolving door and favoritism” could ignite at Kroes. The files suggest that Kroes should have members of the Dutch government put the authorities in his place in the Amsterdam investigations of Uber. Kroes denies to ICIJ that he worked informally for Uber during the reflection phase.
Data locked during attacks
It is particularly explosive that Uber apparently uses a so-called kill switch to separate local computers from Uber’s servers during break-ins. According to the documents, this technology was used in 2014 and 2015 in France, Netherlands, Belgium, Romania, Hungary and also in India. According to the files, there were precise instructions on how to proceed with house searches. Several requests to disconnect computers (“Please kill access now.”) are documented. There were also instructions for employees: “Try some laptops, be surprised if you can’t access them, say the IT team is in San Francisco and is fast asleep.” so many times that now the hardest thing is to keep looking surprised!”
Uber wants nothing to do with the past
Uber’s then boss Kalanick left the company in the summer of 2017 after several scandals. In particular, a long list of sexual harassment cases at Uber’s headquarters was its undoing. Kalanick was accused of doing nothing despite being aware of several incidents and, on the contrary, having promoted this “culture”. Today, Uber emphasizes that it has nothing to do with the machinations anymore – including in terms of lobbying. His successor, Dara Khosrowshahi, was “charged with transforming every aspect of how Uber works”, according to the company, and “instituted the strict controls and compliance necessary to operate as a public company”.