UPDATED 08:10 EDT / NOVEMBER 20 2014

Uber in hot water over misuse of ‘God View’, latest in a series of controversies

naughty dogUber Inc. has yet another scandal to add to their repertoire for this week. The taxi service alternative is currently investigating one of its top executives over allegations that he was tracking a reporter without her knowledge. Josh Mohrer,  general manager of Uber New York, is accused of tracking Buzzfeed reporter Johana Bhuiyan, using a feature available to Uber employees called “God View”, according to an article published by Buzzfeed.

Apparently, Mohrer personally showed Bhuiyan on two separate occasions, how he was able to track her Uber rides. The reporter had not asked to be tracked.

In response to CNET’s request for comment, an Uber spokesperson said, “Our data privacy policy applies to all employees: access to and use of data is permitted only for legitimate business purposes. Data security specialists monitor and audit that access on an ongoing basis. Violations of this policy do result in disciplinary action, including the possibility of termination and legal action.”

On Tuesday Uber highlighted its data privacy policy in a blog post reiterating that, “Uber has a strict policy prohibiting all employees at every level from accessing a rider or driver’s data.”

However, this is not Uber’s only scandal for the week. On Tuesday reports emerged citing damaging remarks made by Uber’s Senior Vice President of Business, Emil Michael, at a dinner last week. Michael said that the company should “dig up dirt on its critics in the media”, and specifically spread details of a female journalist’s personal life, who had previously criticized the company. The journalist is PandoDaily Founder and Editor-In-Chief, Sarah Lacy, who wrote an article in October regarding the fact that she was deleting her Uber account after reading Buzzfeed’s article titled Uber Promotion Pairs Riders with “Hot Chick” Drivers.

Michael apologized for the comments, however, that didn’t stop Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, berating him via Twitter.

Uber has come under some serious fire from journalists over the last few months. However, a company as large as Uber will constantly experience attacks from journalists and others alike; therefore, they will need to learn how to deal with journalists more constructively.

photo credit: Nomadic Lass via photopin cc

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