Transportation
Yes, Transit Users, You Could Get Hacked, Too
It’s not just Uber. New transportation services come with data risks, even when they’re from a public agency.
Had Uber not agreed to pay a $100 million ransom to hackers last year, the personal data of some 57 million riders and drivers may have been exposed. That 2016 breach, which was kept secret for one year by the world’s largest ride-hailing company, is now the subject of multiple state investigations.
Apart from being a fresh round of bad press for the oft-bruised company, the news is a reminder that data hacks are a new normal for consumers of all kinds of goods and services, including mobility. That not only means app-based, private services like ride-hailing and microtransit that depend on personal hardware, like credit cards and phones, but also public transport.