Leaders at Uber encouraged its staff to use a “kill switch” to prevent law enforcement and regulators from accessing sensitive data.
The “kill switch” was one of several details revealed in a trove of 124,000 documents leaked to the Guardian and shared with dozens of newsrooms by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. This leak, which dealt with the company’s conduct between 2013 and 2017, offered an insight into the decisions that company leadership made to expand on a global scale outside Silicon Valley and that lead to one of the “most infamous reckonings in the history of corporate America.”
This kill switch was reportedly used in several countries. Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick ordered computers in Amsterdam cut off from the company’s internal network after learning that authorities had raided the offices there in 2015. “Please hit the kill switch ASAP,” Kalanick said in an email, making the devices inaccessible for staff and authorities alike.
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While the switch had previously been reported on, the new leak offered the most comprehensive look at the company’s efforts to navigate regulations and continue its expansion worldwide. The kill switch was discussed or involved at least a dozen times in at least six countries over two years, according to documents. The San Francisco office was aware of some of these discussions or involvements, records show.
While Uber was founded in 2008, it came under scrutiny amid its international expansion due to its employment practices. The company was adamant about identifying its employees as full-time contractors, a decision that often put it in contest with employment laws in several countries. As the company continued to expand into additional countries, it faced scrutiny from lawmakers over allegations of drivers sexually assaulting riders. This was followed by anti-Uber protests in France and class-action lawsuits over its contractor status.
Uber also engaged in secret negotiations with political leaders from various countries, from Russia to France. French President Emmanuel Macron, then the economic minister, secretly met with Uber lobbyists and worked with them to change the laws to accommodate their gig-based workers. Uber also worked with multiple Russian oligarchs to push for the Kremlin to allow the company to operate there. Many of the figures involved in these transactions are now being targeted by sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
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Kalanick denies that he “authorized any actions or programs that would obstruct justice in any country” and claimed that the ridesharing company’s extensive efforts to expand its markets were “led by over a hundred leaders in dozens of countries around the world and at all times under the direct oversight and with the full approval of Uber’s robust legal, policy, and compliance groups.”
“We have not and will not make excuses for past behavior that is clearly not in line with our present values,” Uber said in a statement released after the leaks. “Instead, we ask the public to judge us by what we’ve done over the last five years and what we will do in the years to come.” The company gestured to its current CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, who replaced Kalanick after he stepped down in 2017 amid a series of scandals.
