Uber was at one time close to having its app removed from the Apple App Store. According to the New York Times, Uber was found to be "fingerprinting" iPhones that accessed its software. Apple disliked that activity and threatened to remove it from the store.
Because of how problematic the iPhone tracking was, Apple CEO Tim Cook called Uber CEO Travis Kalanick for an in-person meeting.
Uber held on to iPhone identifier information even after the app was deleted. It claimed that practice was to make sure fraudsters couldn't start multiple accounts with the same device. However, that practice was also a violation of Apple's app privacy guidelines.
Clearly the company knew it wasn't behaving appropriately since Uber geofenced the fingerprinting, preventing Apple engineers in Cupertino from noticing the behavior.
Kalanick complied with Cook's demands.

0 Comments