Uber is hiring a former IBM chief privacy officer to review the company's practices after it was reported the company may have violated its privacy policy by snooping on customer data.
Harriet Pearson, along with her law firm, Hogan Lovells, will be assessing the company's protocols and making recommendations about how to prevent unauthorized access to Uber client data.
The company went on to say that any access to user data is limited to "legitimate business purposes" and those found violating the rules may be disciplined or fired.
The news comes after a report published by BuzzFeed, which detailed how Emil Michael, an Uber senior vice president, discussed the possibility of hiring researchers to investigate Uber's critics in the media. After this report, one reporter and at least one client made claims the company accessed their data without their permission. One media report spoke of an internal tool used by employees called God View, which mapped out passengers locations in real time.
Uber has been under increasing scrutiny regarding how it handles privacy and the user data. The company accesses user data to connect users with drivers, but it is unknown what else the company does with user data.
The ride app vendor also says it can keep users' data even if they delete an account, claiming that it keeps credit card information, geo-location information and trip history to "comply with our legal and regulatory obligations" and "resolve disputes." Users reportedly have to provide Uber with a written request to have data completely deleted.
Uber said it will continue to internally and externally investigate employees to find if they have violated any privacy regulations, however the incidents have triggered a wave of people calling for a boycott of the service.
The company came under fire earlier this year when rival service Lyft accused Uber of sabotaging Lyft by booking rides and then cancelling them. This included up to 5,500 rides over a period of 10 months. One Uber worker reportedly created 14 fake accounts and used them to book and cancel a whopping 1,524 rides.
