Rumor: Uber's puts Lyft drivers in Hell?

[WMGroomAK]

In articles published both on Engadget and WCCFTech and originally being reported on The Information, Uber may be in yet even more hot water for their 'top secret' software based program code-named as 'Hell'.  From the Engadget Article:

https://www.engadget.com/2017/04/13/uber-hell-program-lyft-drivers/

Quote

It's called Hell, because it served as the counterpart to "God View" or "Heaven," Uber's in-company app that tracked its own drivers and passengers. Unlike God View, which was widely available to corporate employees, only top executives along with select data scientists and personnel knew about Hell.

 

The program apparently started when Uber decided to create fake Lyft rider accounts and fooled its rival's system into thinking they were in various locations around the city. Those fake riders were positioned in a grid to give Uber the entire view of a city and all of Lyft's drivers within it. As a result, the company can see info on up to eight of its competitor's nearest drivers per fake rider.

 

While keeping an eye on its rivals' cars, though, Uber noticed that Lyft's drivers are identified by special numbered IDs that never change like its own tokens do. That allowed the team running Hell to learn of each driver's habits, which, in turn, helped them to figure out which drivers practice "double-apping." In other words, they used the data they gathered to pinpoint the Lyft drivers that drove for them, as well.

 

According to the article, in order to cut back on the number of double-app drivers, the Hell program would begin to send more riders to double-appers and then give them special bonuses for hitting a rider per week count.  This apparently led to Uber shelling out tens of millions per a week in bonuses to the double-appers and Uber ended the program in 2016 once Lyft began it's expansion to more cities.  If this information is true, it would seem like there might be some more serious legal battles ahead for Uber, beyond their current list of legal issues...

 

Additional Articles:

http://wccftech.com/uber-secret-hell-track-lyft-drivers/

https://www.theinformation.com/ubers-top-secret-hell-program-exploited-lyfts-vulnerability

 

 

 

[BloodyWaters]

Wow. 

[JoostinOnline]

4 minutes ago, WMGroomAK said:

their 'top secret' software based program code-named as 'Hell'.

Already the most ridiculous thing I've read in a long time.  This sounds like something out of the National Inquirer.

[2FA]

Everyone: Uber seriously can't be any worse than that...

Uber: Hold my beer.

[JoostinOnline]

3 minutes ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

Everyone: Uber seriously can't be any worse than that...

Uber: Hold my beer.

Uber is awesome.  People just like to bitch about it.  And if you believe this then you're incredibly gullible.  A project named Hell?

[2FA]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

Uber is awesome.  People just like to bitch about it.  And if you believe this then you're incredibly gullible.  A project named Hell?

You don't keep up with news, do you? 

[JoostinOnline]

Just now, DeadEyePsycho said:

You don't keep up with news, do you? 

I do.  I also rely heavily on Uber, and my drivers think the complaints are ridiculous.

[Guest]

@Xanthe_2871

[WMGroomAK]

5 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Already the most ridiculous thing I've read in a long time.  This sounds like something out of the National Inquirer.

Considering this is supposedly software on the opposite side of their 'God-View' software that they were ordered to pay a fine on, the issues they are having with Google concerning self driving technology, the software called 'Greyball' that was aimed at sidestepping government regulators and the legal case being brought against the company by drivers in California for having their software double-dip from drivers and passengers and it seems kind of bad for them as a company...

[PlayStation 2]

Rumors are exactly that: rumors. So it really has no place in the news section.

That being said, wow if this is true.

[tlink]

wouldn't be surprising, just your regular industrial espionage at work.

[JoostinOnline]

2 minutes ago, tlink said:

wouldn't be surprising, just your regular industrial espionage at work.

It would be a little more believable if it didn't have such a dumbass name.  A company isn't going to code-name something Hell.  That's just risking further PR damage for absolutely no reason.

[bgibbz]

13 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

Uber is awesome.  People just like to bitch about it.  And if you believe this then you're incredibly gullible.  A project named Hell?

Uber is a terrible company. There is one instance after another where their CEO did some asshole maneuver, or uber has been involved in sketchy business/legal practices 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

2 minutes ago, JoostinOnline said:

It would be a little more believable if it didn't have such a dumbass name.  A company isn't going to code-name something Hell.  That's just risking further PR damage for absolutely no reason.

How can a non-public program have PR implications? 

 

Anyway, to anyone interested in performing a reality check against the Uber hype, I recommend reading this whole series when you find the time. There are 8 parts, and each of them is quite long, but just getting through the first one will provide a lot of perspective.

[JoostinOnline]

3 minutes ago, bgibbz said:

Uber is a terrible company. There is one instance after another where their CEO did some asshole maneuver, or uber has been involved in sketchy business/legal practices 

They're a great company.  People just want to keep pretending that the drivers are employees, when the entire basis is that they aren't.  They've created thousands of jobs, and provided a cheap alternative form of transportation.

Just now, SpaceGhostC2C said:

How can a non-public program have PR implications? 

*points at this entire fucking topic*

[Scruffy90]

Here we go again. 

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

I do.  I also rely heavily on Uber, and my drivers think the complaints are ridiculous.

They think its ridiculous, yet some of the more recent shit that popped up affects them directly. Someone needs to put uber in their place. 

[Scruffy90]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

 provided a cheap alternative form of transportation.

Cheap? Where? In NYC theyre as expensive and at many times more expensive than the local cab services over here. 

[JoostinOnline]

1 minute ago, Scruffy90 said:

Here we go again. 

They think its ridiculous, yet some of the more recent shit that popped up affects them directly. Someone needs to put uber in their place. 

Lol, it doesn't matter if the drivers are happy?

Just now, Scruffy90 said:

Cheap? Where? In NYC theyre as expensive and at many times more expensive than the local cab services over here. 

Oklahoma.  They're significantly less expensive than cabs, and we have no form of public transportation.

[mikat]

My Scum-o-meter is going off the charts

damn uber is shady.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

1 minute ago, JoostinOnline said:

*points at this entire fucking topic*

So? Can't you distinguish public information from leaks?

Also, where in this topic the name was an issue, vs. the actual content of the program?

[Scruffy90]

Just now, JoostinOnline said:

Lol, it doesn't matter if the drivers are happy?

All the drivers where i'm at are miserable and complain about pay and uber's constant changing structure resulting in less pay for the same rides. The drivers over here are doing multiple ride sharing services at the same time to account for that fluctuation. I'm pretty aure this is a thing almost everyone at this point

[Misanthrope]

8 minutes ago, bgibbz said:

Uber is a terrible company. There is one instance after another where their CEO did some asshole maneuver, or uber has been involved in sketchy business/legal practices 

It is indeed. It just looks to be good when you compare it to the literal fucking mafia run Taxi unions.

[JoostinOnline]

Just now, SpaceGhostC2C said:

So? Can't you distinguish public information from leaks?

Also, where in this topic the name was an issue, vs. the actual content of the program?

Everything has the potential to be leaked, which is my point.

Just now, Scruffy90 said:

All the drivers where i'm at are miserable and complain about pay and uber's constant changing structure resulting in less pay for the same rides. The drivers over here are doing multiple ride sharing services at the same time to account for that fluctuation. I'm pretty aure this is a thing almost everyone at this point

I use Uber to get to and from work, as well as just getting around.  I've never heard a complaint from them.  Whenever I bring it up, they talk about how stupid it is for people to complain.

 

Uber isn't forcing people to work.  If they don't like it, they can just not drive people.

[ashypanda]

jesus christ that's a lot of work and man hours for what, to get a slight advantage over the competition.

then again what do i care, i ditched uber a long time ago for addison lee, and bike hire.

[Teddy07]

Amazing, pretty genius move!