Struggling ride-hailing firm Uber faces a fresh regulatory crackdown after disclosing it paid hackers $1,00,000 to keep secret a massive breach last year that exposed personal data from 57 million accounts. “Deliberately concealing breaches from regulators and citizens could attract higher fines for companies,” James Dipple-Johnstone, deputy commissioner of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, said in a statement.
The stolen information included names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers of Uber users around the world, and the names and license numbers of 6,00,000 US drivers, Khosrowshahi said. Uber declined to say what other countries may be affected. Khosrowshahi also said Uber had begun notifying regulators. The New York attorney general has opened an investigation, a spokeswoman said. Regulators in Australia and the Philippines said on Wednesday they would also look into the matter.
