• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, December 7, 2017

At first glance, there may not seem to be much of a link between the recent data breaches and the sexual abuse scandal unfolding in Washington. But there is one.

Both reflect the arrogance that comes with power, and the belief that you can get away with anything.

Take Uber. Last year, hackers stole data on 57 million people, including 600,000 drivers. But the company didn’t report the breach to authorities or to the affected people until last month.

As Email Marketing Daily reported on November 22, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, "I recently learned that in late 2016 we became aware that two individuals outside the company had inappropriately accessed user data stored on a third-party cloud-based service that we use.”

Khosrowshahi then added something that was on our minds, too: “You may be asking why we are just talking about this now, a year later. I had the same question, so I immediately asked for a thorough investigation of what happened and how we handled it.”

Oh, yeah? But Reuters reports that Uber paid $100,000 to the 20-year-old who stole the data to destroy the information — through "a program designed to reward security researchers who report flaws in a company’s software." And then-CEO Travis Kalanick knew about it, Reuters adds.  

Some must have known. How does $100,000 go out the door without higher-ups knowing about it? And why do you have the hacker sign a non-disclosure agreement, as Reuters alleges, if you’re not trying to cover it up?

It’s all part of a rotten corporate culture, and you see this attitude everywhere these days: We’re the disruptors, we’re the bad boys. We break the rules. You can’t touch us.

Sorry, bad boys, but that only works until someone decides to enforce the rules. And Uber is now being sued by multiple jurisdictions.

Speaking of harassment, Uber has had its problems in that area too. As Recode reports, revelations of sexism and harassment led to the ouster of Kalanick and the firing of around 20 other people, Recode continues.

Perhaps we’re being too kind to Uber. Recode refers to it as a “$69 billion ride-hailing company, which for years had operated as a freewheeling and rapacious startup with billions in the bank led by a cutthroat founder.”

See? Not everyone is amused by malicious mischief.

As for us, we’d rather take a yellow cab or a subway than pay Uber’s variable prices.