Uber to pay a record $ 148 million on the 2016 data breach

Uber will pay $ 148 million to settle a 2016 data breach investigation that the company was accused of intentionally concealing.

The settlement with the attorneys general of the 50 states and Washington, DC, will be divided among the states. According to the Attorney General of New York, this is the largest ever settlement of data breaches between several states.

The investigation was conducted to examine allegations that the carpool company allegedly violated state-level notification laws by intentionally withholding hackers from stealing the personal information of 57 million users in 2016.

The violation was only disclosed at the end of 2017, when Uber revealed it paid hackers $ 100,000 to destroy the data. In April, Uber settled a case with the Federal Trade Commission, which was investigating allegations that Uber had misled its customers about the violation.

As part of the settlement, Uber agreed to develop and implement a corporate integrity program for employees to report unethical behavior. It has also agreed to adopt notification practices for model data breaches and data security, and to engage an independent third party to evaluate its data security practices.

"This regulation should send a clear message: we have zero tolerance for those who circumvent the law and leave the information of consumers and employees vulnerable to exploitation," said New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood. New York will receive about $ 5.1 million of payment.

"The decision of our current management team to disclose the incident was not just the right thing to do, it embodies the principles by which we run our business today: transparency, integrity and accountability "said Tony West, legal director of Uber. post Wednesday. "We will continue to invest in protecting our customers and their data securely, and we are committed to maintaining a constructive, collaborative relationship with governments around the world."

The settlement comes as Uber tries to clean up his practices. In July, for example, Uber finally hired a privacy officer: Ruby Zefo, who became a Uber senior executive specializing in the protection of privacy. Matt Olsen also joins as CEO and Security Officer.

CNNMoney (New York) First published on September 26, 2018: 2:16 pm