DAMNING EVIDENCE

Data Leak Reveals Uber Pressured Politicians, Evaded Police, and Promoted Violence

More than 124,000 confidential documents indicate that French President Emmanuel Macron helped the company with its lobbying goals when he served as economic minister.

A trove of more than 124,000 files leaked to The Guardian has now been published as "the Uber files." The documents reveal efforts by the company to lobby powerful politicians, thwart law enforcement, and promote violence for the sake of success. The investigation covers Uber’s ascension between 2013 and 2017 under the leadership of Travis Kalanick. Messages indicate that French President Emmanuel Macron helped the company when he served as the country's economic minister, giving executives direct access to his staff and brokering deals in its favor. The leak also indicates that Kalanick encouraged French Uber drivers to stage an anti-protest to taxi lobbyists even at the risk of their personal safety, saying that “violence guarantees success.” Executives knew of Uber’s illegality—one wrote “we’re just f***ing illegal”—and frequently instructed IT staff to employ a “kill switch” that shut off internal data systems during police raids. In response to the leak, Uber said that the company has transformed under new leadership but that it “will not make excuses for past behaviour.”