Pressured by Government, Uber Agrees to Protect Rider Data

Ride-hailing service Uber has agreed to protect customer data and audit the use of rider information in order to settle a complaint filed by the federal government.

The Federal Trade Commission says Uber deceived customers by failing to secure data on where riders traveled and neglecting to monitor employee access to the information.

The commission said Tuesday that Uber told customers in 2014 it had a strict policy that stopped employees from finding out where riders went, and a system in place to monitor employee access. But Uber stopped the monitoring less than a year later. The commission says the company agreed to stop misrepresenting how it protects and secures customer data.

Uber says it has strengthened its privacy and data security practices and will keep investing in security programs.