Uber Class Action Alleges Illegal Spying on Lyft Drivers

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A class action lawsuit accuses Uber of using spyware to hack into rival Lyft’s system, and track Lyft drivers without their permission.

Plaintiff Michael Gonzales contends that starting in 2014 and continuing through early 2016, Uber was in direct competition with Lyft for both drivers and customers in the private taxi market.

To give it a leg up over its rival, Uber allegedly created fake accounts on Lyft and used software to fool the Lyft app into providing details on up to eight actual Lyft drivers in any given area.

The complaint states that by strategically placing these fake Lyft users throughout a city, Uber could get current data on where Lyft drivers were. In addition, because each Lyft driver had a unique ID tag, Uber could determine individual drivers and map their behavior.

According to an article by The Information cited within the complaint, Uber called this spyware program “Hell,” because it mirrored Uber’s display of its own drivers, which it calls “God View” or “Heaven.” The class action asserts that Uber also used this spying to discover which drivers were picking up riders for both Uber and Lyft. Uber would then allegedly use this information to target those drivers and try to get them to drive more for Uber.

Gonzales states that he was a Lyft driver between 2012 and the end of 2014, and never worked for Uber. The class action alleges that Uber harmed Gonzales by intercepting his electronic communications and tracking his location. Moreover, the complaint asserts Uber’s “Hell” spyware was an unfair business practice under California law, and violated potential Class Members’ reasonable expectation of privacy.

The Uber illegal spyware class action lawsuit is brought by Gonzales, “on his own behalf and as a class action for the benefit of a Class consisting of Lyft drivers whose electronic communications and whereabouts were intercepted, accessed, monitored, and/or transmitted by Defendants.”

The Uber “Hell” spyware lawsuit requests certification of a Class of “[a]ll individuals in the United States who (1) worked as drivers for Lyft, (2) while not working for Uber, and (3) whose private information and whereabouts was obtained by Uber by accessing computer systems operated or used by Lyft and the Class.”

The complaint also asks for certification of a separate Class of California residents in the same situation. The class action seeks damages for putative Class Members, as well as an injunction stopping Uber from continuing its spying program, and destroying any data on Class Members.

Gonzales is represented by Caleb Marker and Hannah P. Belknap of Zimmerman Reed LLP and by Mark Burton and Michael McShane of Audet & Partners LLP.

The Uber “Hell” Illegal Spyware Class Action Lawsuit is Michael Gonzales v. Uber Technologies Inc., Case No. 3:17-cv-02264, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Fransisco Division.

UPDATE: On June 19, 2017, Uber filed a motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit accusing the company of spying on Lyft drivers without their permission.