# How Uber Used Secret Greyball Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide



## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

*How Uber Used Secret Greyball Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide*

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/...reakingNews&contentID=64982515&pgtype=article

SAN FRANCISCO - Uber has for years engaged in a worldwide program to deceive authorities in markets where its low-cost ride-hailing service was being resisted by law enforcement, or in some instances, had been outright banned.

The program, which involves a tool called Greyball, uses data collected from Uber's app and other techniques to identify and circumvent officials. Uber used these to evade authorities in cities such as Paris, Boston and Las Vegas, and in countries including Australia, China, South Korea and Italy.

Greyball was part of a broader program called VTOS, short for "violation of terms of service," which Uber created to root out people it thought were using or targeting its service improperly. The VTOS program, including the Greyball tool, began as early as 2014 and remains in use today, predominantly outside the United States. Greyball was approved by Uber's legal team.

Greyball and the broader VTOS program were described to The New York Times by four current and former Uber employees, who also provided documents. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the tools and their use are confidential and because of fear of retaliation from the company.

Uber's use of Greyball was recorded on video in late 2014, when Erich England, a code enforcement inspector for Portland, Ore., tried to catch an Uber car downtown as part of a sting operation against the company.

At the time, Uber had just started its ride-hailing service in Portland without seeking permission from the city, which later declared the service illegal. To build a case against the company, officers like Mr. England posed as riders, opening the Uber app to hail a car and watching as the miniature vehicles on the screen wound their way toward him.

But unknown to Mr. England and other authorities, some of the digital cars they saw in their Uber apps were never there at all. The Uber drivers they were able to hail also quickly canceled. That was because Uber had tagged Mr. England and his colleagues - essentially Greyballing them as city officials - based on data collected from its app and through other techniques. Uber then served up a fake version of its app that was populated with ghost cars, to evade capture.

Portland vs. Uber: City code officers try to ticket drivers Video by The Oregonian
At a time when Uber is already under scrutiny for its boundary-pushing workplace culture, the Greyball tool underscores the lengths to which the company will go to win in its business. Uber has long flouted laws and regulations to gain an edge against entrenched transportation providers, a modus operandi that has helped propel the company into more than 70 countries and to a valuation close to $70 billion.

Yet using its app to identify and sidestep authorities in places where regulators said the company was breaking the law goes further in skirting ethical lines - and potentially legal ones, too. Inside Uber, some of those who knew about the VTOS program and how the Greyball tool was being used were troubled by it.

In a statement, Uber said, "This program denies ride requests to users who are violating our terms of service - whether that's people aiming to physically harm drivers, competitors looking to disrupt our operations, or opponents who collude with officials on secret 'stings' meant to entrap drivers."

Dylan Rivera, a spokesman for the Portland Bureau of Transportation, said in a statement: "We're very concerned to hear that this practice continued at least into 2015 and affected other cities.

"We take any effort to undermine our efforts to protect the public very seriously," Mr. Rivera said.

Uber, which lets people hail rides from a smartphone app, operates multiple kinds of services, including a luxury Black Car one in which drivers are commercially licensed. But one Uber service that many regulators have had problems with is the company's lower-cost service, known as UberX in the United States.

UberX essentially lets people who have passed a cursory background check and vehicle inspection to become an Uber driver quickly. In the past, many cities banned the service and declared it illegal.

That's because the ability to summon a noncommercial driver - which is how UberX drivers who use their private vehicles are typically categorized - often had no regulations around it. When Uber barreled into new markets, it capitalized on the lack of rules to quickly enlist UberX drivers, who were not commercially licensed, and put them to work before local regulators could prohibit them from doing so.

After authorities caught up, the company and officials generally clashed - Uber has run into legal hurdles with UberX in cities including Austin, Tex., Philadelphia and Tampa, Fla., as well as internationally. Eventually, the two sides came to an agreement, and regulators developed a legal framework for the low-cost service.

That approach has been costly. Law enforcement officials in some cities have impounded or ticketed UberX drivers, with Uber generally picking up those costs on behalf of the drivers. Uber has estimated thousands of dollars in lost revenue for every vehicle impounded and ticket dispensed.

This is where the VTOS program and the use of the Greyball tool came in. When Uber moved into a new city, it appointed a general manager to lead the charge. The manager would try to spot enforcement officers using a set of technologies and techniques.

One method involved drawing a digital perimeter, or "geofence," around authorities' offices on a digital map of the city that Uber monitored. The company watched which people frequently opened and closed the app - a process internally called "eyeballing" - around that location, which signified that the user might be associated with city agencies.

Other techniques included looking at the user's credit card information and whether that card was tied directly to an institution like a police credit union.

Enforcement officials involved in large-scale sting operations to catch Uber drivers also sometimes bought dozens of cellphones to create different accounts. To circumvent that tactic, Uber employees went to that city's local electronics stores to look up device numbers of the cheapest mobile phones on sale, which were often the ones bought by city officials, whose budgets were not sizable.

In all, there were at least a dozen or so signifiers in the VTOS program that Uber employees could use to assess whether users were new riders or very likely city officials.

If those clues were not enough to confirm a user's identity, Uber employees would search social media profiles and other available information online. Once a user was identified as law enforcement, Uber Greyballed him or her, tagging the user with a small piece of code that read Greyball followed by a string of numbers.

When a tagged officer called a car, Uber could scramble a set of ghost cars inside a fake version of the app for that person, or show no cars available at all. If a driver accidentally picked up an officer, Uber occasionally called the driver with instructions to end the ride.

Uber employees said the practices and tools were partly born out of safety measures for drivers in certain countries. In France, Kenya and India, for instance, taxi companies and workers targeted and attacked new Uber drivers.

"They're beating the cars with metal bats," Courtney Love, the singer and celebrity, tweeted from an Uber car at a time of clashes between the company and taxi drivers in Paris in 2015. Ms. Love said protesters had ambushed her Uber ride and held her driver hostage. "This is France? I'm safer in Baghdad."

Uber has said it was also at risk from tactics used by taxi and limousine companies in certain markets. In Tampa, for instance, Uber referred to collusion between the local transportation authority and taxi companies in fighting ride-hailing services.

In those environments, Greyballing started as a way to scramble the locations of UberX drivers to prevent competitors from finding them. Uber said it remained the primary use of the tool today.

Continued on NY Times site

WOW, if ever there was any doubt in your mind that Uber was shady, this should lay it to rest!

This would also explain the ghost cars that some people have seen.


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## BurgerTiime (Jun 22, 2015)

When? When in the hell will Uber executives face criminal charges?


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## flexian (Aug 16, 2016)

best route, therefore, for everyone (not just officials) is to buy an Uber card from the drugstore and a burner phone

who knows what else they have on the riders - and drivers

they've been caught spying on people before......

this is the kind of thing that could realistically bring down the whole company; taking on regulators was a bad idea, conning them is even worse

Uber is sneaky, crafty, and conniving.....but politics is an absolute bloodsport, this is the beginning of the end right here for Trav and Uubz


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## Dback2004 (Nov 7, 2015)

TK is having a rough week with bad press... it's almost like he had it coming or something


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## JoeJoseph (Nov 18, 2014)

Genius pure genius lol


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## Jermin8r89 (Mar 10, 2016)

This companies so screwed!! Uber makes everything so cheap and gives people chances to earn extra money as this company mind controls people! Wake up support your local taxis and say HELL NO to uber and SDCs! Imagine what other companies could do when they rule our way to move


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## backstreets-trans (Aug 16, 2015)

It seems like uber treats it's employees just as bad as the drivers. There have been so many leaks and bad press that it looks like a conspiracy. Former employees and anonymous ones are really piling on with the bad publicity. Karma is a biatch. If you treat people like crap don't expect any loyalty.


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## scrabble cat (Jul 16, 2016)

There's a media feeding frenzy right now against Uber. Not saying the stories are not legitimate or fair: they are. But it's like Uber's got a bounty on its head these past few months... like the person who writes the story that finally 'offs' Uber will win some sort of betting pool.


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## circle1 (Sep 17, 2016)

This version is easier to read (zoom in and ads are much easier to get out of sight!)
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-03/uber-used-secret-greyball-tool-deceive-authorities

You have a string indicators here that Uber does indeed create fictitious cars!!

"[...] some of the digital cars they saw in their Uber apps were never there at all. The Uber drivers they were able to hail also quickly canceled. *That was because Uber had tagged Mr. England and his colleagues - essentially Greyballing them as city officials - based on data collected from its app and through other techniques*. Uber then served up a fake version of its app that was populated with ghost cars, to evade capture."

Oo! Heads-up people: "Uber also _*watched which people frequently opened and closed the app*_, a process internally called "eyeballing", around that location, which signified that the user might be associated with city agencies. Once tagged, the suspected "adversary" would then _*be shadowbanned on every attempt*_ to hail a ride"

And this solves the mystery of some past posts seen here:
"*If a driver accidentally picked up an officer, Uber occasionally called the driver with instructions to end the ride*."


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

Sick sick people.


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## llort (Oct 7, 2016)

I received what I consider to be an inappropriate PM from SibeRescueBrian on April 8, 2017.
Because of that PM, this comment is currently under edit.
The owner of uberpeople.net should be aware of this over-reach from SibeRescueBrian,
as this edit of my content contribution is the direct result of the PM I recieved.
Check back soon for edit updates while this content is updated.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Disgusted Driver said:


> *How Uber Used Secret Greyball Tool to Deceive Authorities Worldwide*
> 
> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/...reakingNews&contentID=64982515&pgtype=article
> 
> ...


Good to see they protect Drivers lke this ! From fraudulent accounts created by bogus individuals who are out to cause harm.



scrabble cat said:


> There's a media feeding frenzy right now against Uber. Not saying the stories are not legitimate or fair: they are. But it's like Uber's got a bounty on its head these past few months... like the person who writes the story that finally 'offs' Uber will win some sort of betting pool.


Hue and cry
Media is tag team oriented.


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## jonhjax (Jun 24, 2016)

I started a post last year about uber possibly being in violation of the rico act. What do you think about this now?


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

jonhjax said:


> I started a post last year about uber possibly being in violation of the rico act. What do you think about this now?


Law enforcement won't take too kindly to being hustled like that.


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## circle1 (Sep 17, 2016)

llort said:


> *TRAVIS WOULD CHILL* *THE ENTIRE UBER COMMUNITY NOW* BY ADDING A *TIP-LINE* *TO THE UBER APP*.
> 
> Goodbye Lyft. Uber is legit.
> 
> Sometimes the dog needs a bone, Travis. Its called love. You've gotta love your dogs, sir.


HA! More like he'd be throwing us a bone!


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

The fact they are willing to admit this makes me wonder what they are hiding. 

I'm impressed though.


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## WeirdBob (Jan 2, 2016)

Travis responds to criticism of VTOS:


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## SmokestaXX (Dec 17, 2016)

scrabble cat said:


> There's a media feeding frenzy right now against Uber. Not saying the stories are not legitimate or fair: they are. But it's like Uber's got a bounty on its head these past few months... like the person who writes the story that finally 'offs' Uber will win some sort of betting pool.


Name recognition moves the needle and provides a Trump alternative story. Everyone loves a villain; especially the news.


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## Ca$h4 (Aug 12, 2015)

Disbar Chief Uber lawyer Salle Yoo.

*http://www.therecorder.com/id=12027...cn=20170303&src=EMC-Email&pt=Afternoon Update*

* Uber's 'Greyball' Program Puts New Focus on Legal Dept. *

David Ruiz, The Recorder
March 3, 2017 | 0 Comments 









Salle Yoo
Jason Doiy / The Recorder
SAN FRANCISCO - Uber Technologies Inc. has used software to evade law enforcement and public officials in cities where the company faced opposition from regulators, The New York Times reported Friday, and legal ethics professionals said the company may be steering into the wrong lane.

While the program may not be illegal, ethics professionals said, it does appear to skirt ethical standards. And if in-house counsel approved the program knowing that Uber would use it to break the law, then disbarment could be in store for the lawyers who signed off on it, they said. The New York Times report said Uber's legal department, led by general counsel Salle Yoo, approved use of the program.

"For lawyers, the legal ethics issue is did they approve of the program so that Uber could act illegally?" Wayne State University professor of law Peter Henning said. "That could put a license at risk to practice law."

"It's a hard ethics problem," said UC-Hastings College of the Law professor Rory Little.

The revelation of Uber's program is the latest to put a spotlight on the San Francisco-based ride-hailing giant's corporate culture and its legal department.

The Times report Friday said Uber uses a software tool called Greyball to evade members of law enforcement and regulatory agencies. Uber managers identify potential authorities by tracking car destinations-like watching if a user routinely gets dropped off at government offices-and by cross-referencing credit card numbers against government affiliated credit card unions, among other data the Times report said.

Uber's press team said in a statement Friday: "This program denies ride requests to users who are violating our terms of service-whether that's people aiming to physically harm drivers, competitors looking to disrupt our operations, or opponents who collude with officials on secret 'stings' meant to entrap drivers."

For "greyballed" users, Uber delivers a fake version of its app, displaying cars that aren't actually there or showing that no cars are available, the report said.

The Times report, based on descriptions and documents provided by current and former employees who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the program initially was developed to help Uber drivers avoid hostile competitors and problem users abroad. Uber provided a statement to the Times arguing the program is used to safeguard drivers from the risk of physical harm or entrapment from "sting" operations. The report said the program is still in use the United States and overseas.

"Evading regulatory authorities can sometimes be a problem all by itself," Litte said. He added: "This could probably be called deception in the sense that Uber certainly didn't tell regulators they were doing this."

Henning, who also writes columns on white-collar law for The New York Times, said Uber can refuse rides to whomever it wants-so long as those decisions aren't based on race or disability. But refusing rides to authorities is different, he said.

Henning said it is possible that state attorneys general could launch investigations into Uber. He said those investigations would reveal which lawyer or lawyers at the company approved the program, and what they knew about it. He said it is also possible that Uber's lawyers approved some portions of the program without knowing exactly how Uber managers would use it, providing some coverage to the legal department.

"Lawyers have to ensure their clients comply with the law. That's the cornerstone of corporate legal advice," Henning said.

Uber has faced intense public scrutiny for weeks now. Last month, former site reliability engineer Susan Fowler Rigetti claimed she faced sexual harassment and discrimination during her one year with the company. Uber responded by launching a public investigation led by Covington & Burling's Eric Holder Jr. Rigetti wrote on Twitter on Thursday that she hired law firm Baker Curtis & Schwartz located in San Francisco and Pasadena.


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## Lag Monkey (Feb 6, 2015)

Can't say Iv been grayball'd but definitely left blueball'd by those "very high demand weekend" UBER emails


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

The mere existence of this "grey" list is super duper crazy sketchy as all let out... The cab company i drive for has something similar... it's called the "Cash up front list" The driver gets an advisory to make the customer pay up front or refuse service. It's in compliance with local taxi regulations and the city knows we have it. I've thrown enough people out of the car for not being able to pay me to know that the list works.

If uber puts passengers who violate their TOS on their greylist... my gosh... that's a huge story in itself. There's blackballing a customer off the app for credit card fraud (which i totally get) and then there is a twilight zone ghost instance of the program where you just never get picked up.. What other reasons are there for someone getting on the grey list?

Wouldn't it be better to just kick people off the service then to lead them on to believe that there just aren't any cars available?

That is super duper sketchy.


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## Ca$h4 (Aug 12, 2015)

Uber is no upwardly mobile freeway, Uber is the road to debt slavery hell. Learn the lesson fast: Use time more wisely.

*Chris Rea - The road to hell (long version CD) HD*

*



*


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

The program sounds super cool to me. Too bad it got leaked.


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## circle1 (Sep 17, 2016)

SmokestaXX said:


> Name recognition moves the needle and provides a Trump alternative story. Everyone loves a villain; especially the news.


That's what inspired the song, "Dirty Laundry" by Don Henley


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## Buckiemohawk (Jun 23, 2015)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> The mere existence of this "grey" list is super duper crazy sketchy as all let out... The cab company i drive for has something similar... it's called the "Cash up front list" The driver gets an advisory to make the customer pay up front or refuse service. It's in compliance with local taxi regulations and the city knows we have it. I've thrown enough people out of the car for not being able to pay me to know that the list works.
> 
> If uber puts passengers who violate their TOS on their greylist... my gosh... that's a huge story in itself. There's blackballing a customer off the app for credit card fraud (which i totally get) and then there is a twilight zone ghost instance of the program where you just never get picked up.. What other reasons are there for someone getting on the grey list?
> 
> ...


But we have to have that list. I've put several on pay upfront. Not for running but because of when it is time to pay. They disappear for twenty minutes and then come out with nickels that they throw at you. Expect me to wait with my meter off while they find five more dollars. Then call dispatch to complain about you, when you leave the meter on. Use a credit card that never works and say I will get you next time for a 5.40 cent fare. The thing about the last fare is he could've walked the five minutes to get were he was going there is a sidewalk. It stops a lot of the b.s. when you can say pay me upfront or adios.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

The original NY Times report:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/03/...170305&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=17465210&te=1

excerpt:
Greyball was part of a program called VTOS, short for "violation of terms of service," which Uber created to root out people it thought were using or targeting its service improperly. The program, including Greyball, began as early as 2014 and remains in use, predominantly outside the United States. Greyball was approved by Uber's legal team.​


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## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

Ca$h4 said:


> Disbar Chief Uber lawyer Salle Yoo.
> 
> *http://www.therecorder.com/id=1202780546278/Ubers-Greyball-Program-Puts-New-Focus-on-Legal-Dept?kw=Uber's 'Greyball' Program Puts New Focus on Legal Dept.&et=editorial&bu=The Recorder&cn=20170303&src=EMC-Email&pt=Afternoon Update*
> 
> ...


A lawyer participated in unethical acts? I am SHOCKED, APPAULED, and SHAKEN to my very core.


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## TwoFiddyMile (Mar 13, 2015)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> The mere existence of this "grey" list is super duper crazy sketchy as all let out... The cab company i drive for has something similar... it's called the "Cash up front list" The driver gets an advisory to make the customer pay up front or refuse service. It's in compliance with local taxi regulations and the city knows we have it. I've thrown enough people out of the car for not being able to pay me to know that the list works.
> 
> If uber puts passengers who violate their TOS on their greylist... my gosh... that's a huge story in itself. There's blackballing a customer off the app for credit card fraud (which i totally get) and then there is a twilight zone ghost instance of the program where you just never get picked up.. What other reasons are there for someone getting on the grey list?
> 
> ...


My company needs that list. I chased a "green job" 5 miles to a crack house- didn't answer the phone, only replied to text. Got my no-go, and the ****ers called back within a minute turning it into a blue PRIORITY job so I went back and no-go'd them at 5 minutes this time.
Obviously a disgruntled customer getting their jollies. Threatened to ruin my morning.


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## scrabble cat (Jul 16, 2016)

Ca$h4 said:


> Uber is no upwardly mobile freeway, Uber is the road to debt slavery hell. Learn the lesson fast: Use time more wisely.
> 
> *Chris Rea - The road to hell (long version CD) HD*
> 
> ...


Can I just say how awesome it is to see this song and video pop up on this thread? Brings me back to high school!


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## Jesusdrivesuber (Jan 5, 2017)

What's impressive is that such authorities thought they were dealing with business men and not a mafia, really? You couldn't spoof your device's hardware or switch phones after they stopped catching people?

The law outside the range of the NSA/FEDS is really incompetent.


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## Karen Stein (Nov 5, 2016)

Let me see if I understand the opinions given so far:

Are you saying it's OK for government to collect data, compile dossiers, and probe into citizens at will? To attempt to tempt and trap folks into breaking the law? To arbitrarily try to expand their reach? All without either legislation or court supervision?

How many use WAZE?

I say what's sauce for the goose ....

It's about time someone used technology to rein in run-amok petty functionaries. Horray for Uber in protecting their contractors


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## flexian (Aug 16, 2016)

Karen Stein said:


> How many use WAZE?


i dont understand ur WAZE reference


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## Jesusdrivesuber (Jan 5, 2017)

flexian said:


> i dont understand ur WAZE reference


Wze makes you cheat speed traps, red light cameras and other crap.



Karen Stein said:


> Let me see if I understand the opinions given so far:
> 
> Are you saying it's OK for government to collect data, compile dossiers, and probe into citizens at will? To attempt to tempt and trap folks into breaking the law? To arbitrarily try to expand their reach? All without either legislation or court supervision?
> 
> ...


Lol.

While I agree with the first part, they only did it because they were paying the bills for violating the law, Uber figured it was better to greyball the accounts after the first report rather than constantly keep paying the fines, I mean it's not like they did anyone any favors, without drivers they would be sitting in their hands today.


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## Tr4vis Ka1anick (Oct 2, 2016)

I wonder if they used a Stingray device in conjunction with greyball & VTOS would be a lot more efficient to target potential obstacles.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

Karen Stein said:


> Let me see if I understand the opinions given so far:
> 
> Are you saying it's OK for government to collect data, compile dossiers, and probe into citizens at will? To attempt to tempt and trap folks into breaking the law? To arbitrarily try to expand their reach? All without either legislation or court supervision?
> 
> ...


I'm not sure what collecting data etc... has to do with this. I also don't see this as entrapment and I can assure you that the courts most definitely do not. 
A city inspector calling for an Uber and then writing a ticket is not inducing someone to perform an illegal act, they already expressed a willingness to do so by signing on to the app.

What I think is questionable and quite possibly illegal is that there were laws in place, uber ignored the laws and offered an illegal service, uber deliberately thwarted law enforcement efforts in an attempt to evade apprehension of their contractors.

Whether you agree or not, there is a rule of law in this country, we don't get to pick and choose which ones are valid and which are not, well actually we do BUT we should be prepared to accept the consequences if we do violate them. Are you aware that it is illegal in most jurisdictions to warn others of speed traps, you are actually hindering law enforcement. Again, you may think that's unreasonable but it is the law and you can get a ticket for it.


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