Senator blasts Uber for weak response to spy scandal

NEW YORK -- Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) criticized car service company Uber for a "surprising lack of detail" in responding to allegations of spying on users.

"While I'm pleased that they replied to my letter, I am concerned about the surprising lack of detail in their response," Franken said about Uber's three-page letter to him, which he released on Monday.

As chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, Franken asked Uber CEO Travis Kalanick last month to respond to reports of Uber's "troubling disregard for customers' privacy."

In his query, Franken cited a BuzzFeed report that Uber executive Josh Mohrer tracked a reporter's Uber rides without her permission. Franken also asked about an Uber executive who discussed spending millions to retaliate against journalists who write critically of the company.

Uber told Franken that Emil Michael, the executive who discussed slinging mud at critics, apologized for his comments, which "do not reflect company policies or practices."

Uber said Mohrer, Uber's general manager in New York City, "believed he had a legitimate purpose for looking at the reporter's location" because she was 30 minutes late for a meeting with him.

"Mr. Mohrer wanted to meet her in the lobby to escort her to the meeting location, so he pulled up her trip to see her arrival time," said Katherine Tasssi,Uber's managing counsel of privacy, who signed the letter.

Mohrer exercised "poor" judgement in the matter and Uber "disciplined him accordingly," Tassi said.

But Franken was not satisfied.

"Quite frankly, they did not answer many of the questions I posed directly to them," Franken said. "I will continue pressing for answers to these questions."

Indeed, Uber failed to answer Franken's question about the circumstances in which an executive may look at a customer's data — a reference to Uber's statement that it only lets employees tap users' data for "a limited set of legitimate business purposes."

Uber also failed answer Franken's question about what kind of violations might result in employee discipline.

Entrepreneur Peter Sims also accused Uber of shared his whereabouts at a lunch party, prompting an acquaintance who was attending the party in Chicago to text him with details of his Uber location in New York City.

The spying scandal resulted in a throng of users deleting their apps, as well as an investigation by New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates Uber in New York.