Uber executives are travelling the globe to reassure regulators that the company is changing the way it does business, after a massive data breach became the latest controversy to hurt the ride-service firm's reputation. Uber Technologies Inc is also continuing talks with Japan's SoftBank Group Corp over an investment, Brooks Entwistle, Uber's recently appointed chief business officer for Asia Pacific, told Reuters on Monday. Uber disclosed last week that it covered up an October 2016 data breach involving 57 million customers and about 600,000 drivers. The company said it paid two hackers $100,000 to destroy the stolen data and keep the matter a secret. The revelation, made by Uber's new Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi in a blog post, prompted governments in countries including Britain, the United States, Mexico, Australia and the Philippines to launch probes into the breach and Uber's handling of the matter. The global backlash will test Uber's new collaborative approach to regulators, a stark change from the rule-breaking culture created by former CEO Travis Kalanick.
"We have changed tacks in so many ways in dealing with regulators, dealing with governments," Entwistle said in an interview in Tokyo, where he is meeting Japanese officials and potential business partners.
Nevertheless, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Kimberly Foxx, the public prosecutor for Cook County, Illinois, filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against Uber for its failure to protect the data of its customers and drivers, accusing the company of violating local laws by failing to promptly disclose the breach.
