A former Lyft driver has filed a class action lawsuit against Uber for a program — internally called “Hell”— that it allegedly used to track the competition.
The program, aptly codenamed “Hell,” reportedly spied on Lyft drivers from 2014 to 2016, giving Uber an unfair advantage. Michael Gonzales filed a class action lawsuit against Uber in the Northern District of California court.
The lawsuit can be read on the website of one of Gonzales’s attorneys. Plaintiff Gonzales was employed as a driver for Lyft from 2012 until approximately November 2014.
Uber is being sued by Lyft over a tracking program called “Hell” which cost the company financially and customer-wise. Credit: WDEF
The software-based program would create fake Lyft rider accounts and then use information from those accounts to spy on actual Lyft drivers within the ecosystem. According to The Information, Uber could see up to eight of the nearby Lyft drivers. With multiple accounts, the program gave Uber something of a real-time map of its competition.
“Each Lyft ID is unique, akin to a social security number, which allowed Uber to track Lyft drivers’ locations over time. 5. Upon information and belief, Uber repeated this process millions of times using its sophisticated Hell spyware’s digital capabilities from 2014 through 2016,” the lawsuit reads.
The program affected the business opportunities of Lyft drivers, the lawsuit continues.
“Uber accomplished this by incentivizing drivers working on both platforms to work primarily for Uber, thereby reducing the supply of Lyft drivers which resulted in increased wait times for Lyft customers and diminished earnings for Lyft drivers,” said the lawsuit, which one of Gonzales’ attorneys posted online.
An Uber spokesperson declined to comment on the suit to Fortune, but did reiterate a previous statement to The Information that said Uber did not preferentially give assignments to drivers registered with both ride-sharing apps.
Gonzales filed complaints on four counts in the lawsuit, including for violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and for violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law.
Legally, Uber has 21 days to respond to the lawsuit.
– [Mashable]
