Senator Franken doesn’t want a Lyft, he wants answers
Uber’s troubles have been well documented over the previous few weeks, but though the negative press doesn’t seem to have deterred its investors, it’s biggest rival Lyft has seized on the opportunity to steal some of its business.
Lyft has gone out of its way to reassure consumers it doesn’t share Uber’s carefree attitude towards user data. As controversy swirls around Uber’s so-called “God View” tool that allows any employee to track its passengers, Lyft posted a revised privacy policy which implements “new technical restrictions” preventing its data from being abused.
But that hasn’t satisfied U.S. Senator Al Franken, chairman of the subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. The senator recently posed ten questions to Uber regarding its own data practices, and is now asking Lyft to respond to a different set of questions. In an open letter sent to Lyft CEO Logan Green, Senator Franken seeks additional details about Lyft’s technical restrictions, particularly about “which categories of employees” still have access to user’s data. He also wants to know what situations the company deem acceptable for employees to access that data:
“I am particularly concerned about this in light of reports of past conduct suggesting inadequate regard among Lyft executives for customers’ privacy,” writes Senator Franken. “At least one journalist has reported that her trip log was accessed on multiple occasions by Lyft executives without requesting her permission and without any apparent legitimate business purpose.”
From the tone of the letter, it’s clear Senator Franken doesn’t really trust Lyft any more than Uber despite its revised privacy policy, and is seeking clarification this is more than just a PR trick designed to try and steal some of Uber’s business.
Senator Franken’s letter was delivered on the same day Lyft co-founder John Zimmer told Bloomberg‘s Betty Liu that the company was having its “best weeks ever” in light of Uber’s troubles.
In the interview, Zimmer suggested Uber’s aggresive tactics of trying to undermine its rivals were backfiring and aiding its competitors, claiming Lyft’s rides and revenue had increased five-fold since the beginning of the year. Referring to Uber CEO Travis Kalanick’s admission that his company had tried to hamper Lyft’s fundraising efforts, Zimmer said “the strategy didn’t work. We went out to raise $150 million and we raised $250 million.”
