Byte Size #11: Volvo’s Promise To Uber, The Potential End To Net Neutrality, Uber’s Coverup
Volvo Promises Uber Fleet of Self-Driving Taxis by 2019
What Happened?
On Monday, Uber agreed to buy up to 24,000 self-driving vehicles from Volvo, progressing Uber’s pursuit to build a fleet of driverless cars.
The deal, despite being non binding, would account for about 4.5% of Volvo’s current total sales, based on 2016 figures, and is estimated to be worth more than $1 billion.
Now there have been other car makers that have signed smaller, less specific deals to develop and produce autonomous cars, but this agreement is one of the most concrete deals between two big players in the field for the production of a large number of real autonomous cars. This deal is also the first with a promised delivery date (2019) that an auto maker has set for rolling out a working model.
This is not the first partnership between these two companies. Pilot projects around the U.S. were halted after an early version of a Volvo-Uber-developed vehicle flipped on its side after an accident in Tempe, Ariz. Police said the incident was caused by a human driver of another vehicle as opposed to the Uber self-driving vehicle.
What Does This Mean?
As this technology becomes more prominent, it is expected to see more partnerships between auto makers and technology firms such as Uber or Google. Daimler AG, maker of Mercedes Benz, joined forced with Uber in January. The German company agreed to introduce self-driving cars compatible with Uber. Additionally, Waymo, the self-driving tech unit of Google-parent Alphabet Inc., has agreed to buy several hundred minivans from Fiat Chrysler as part of its autonomous driving program.
Net Neutrality In Jeopardy
What Happened?
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on Tuesday that it plans to dismantle regulations that ensure equal access to the internet, enabling companies to charge more and block access to some websites. The proposal is widely expected to be approved during a Dec. 14 meeting.
What Does This Mean?
The repeal of net neutrality would create a range of new opportunities for internet providers, enabling them to form alliances with media and other online firms to offer web services at higher speeds and quality. It would also help clear the way for creative pricing and bundling of services to attract more customers.
The FCC would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them and entrepreneurs and other small businesses can have the technical information they need to innovate.
Internet providers will be able to have a lot more power with the offerings they provide. This would not be a large impact if consumers had several internet providers to choose from at home, so that they could switch away from a bad provider and over to one that values an open internet, yet that’s far from the case. In fact, less than a quarter of America have two or more home internet providers that offer basic broadband speeds — so if you don’t like what a provider is doing, you may be out of luck.
Uber’s Dirty Little Secret
What Happened
Uber on Tuesday revealed that it paid hackers over $100,000 in an effort to conceal a mass data breach affecting 57 million accounts last year.
The hackers took the names, email addresses and phone numbers of 57 million riders, in addition to taking the driver’s license numbers of 600,000 Uber drivers. The company said that financial information, such as credit-card data or Social Security numbers were not taken.
Chief Security Officer (CSO), Joe Sullivan, and deputy Craig Clark have both been fired for their handling of the breach.
Uber’s new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, criticized the company’s handling of the data theft in a blog post that said there’s no evidence the stolen information has been misused.
What Does This Mean?
The reveal of this cover up marks the latest stain on Uber’s reputation.
The ride hailing company ousted Travis Kalanick as CEO in June after an internal investigation concluded he had built a culture that allowed female workers to be sexually harassed and encouraged employees to push legal limits.
It is clear that cyber security and the protection of information is extremely crucial to companies. Firms may be willing to go to great lengths to prevent their cyber-security reputations from diminishing, even to the extent of covering up mass hacks. The question will remain of how Uber will respond to this cover up and whether or not legal action will ensue.
