In its eighth collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), The Indian Express spent four months investigating The Uber Files, a cache of 124,000 internal emails, text messages and documents from inside Uber. Obtained by The Guardian and shared with ICIJ and a global consortium of newsrooms in 30 countries, these records tell the untold story of how a shaky Silicon Valley start-up became a $44-billion global transportation giant with operations today in 72 countries — and counting.
The Uber Files: Dean Starkman, Senior Editor, ICIJ, David Pegg, Investigations correspondent, The Guardian, and Ritu Sarin, Executive Editor (Investigations), The Indian Express take you behind the scenes of a global probe.
The investigation carried out by The Indian Express shows the cavalier manner in which the company’s top executives reacted to the allegation of rape by an Uber driver in New Delhi in December 2014.
After the source of the Uber Files investigation, the whistleblower of the 2016 Panama Papers has given his first interview. What motivates such whistleblowers, and why doesn’t India have any on that scale?
The Uber Files: The victim had filed an original compensation case in 2015, followed by an invasion of privacy suit in 2017 over Uber’s top executives accessing her medical records.
An investigation by The Indian Express, in collaboration with the ICIJ, revealed that Uber had used stealth technology to bypass regulators, tapped into the lobbying network, and aggressively cut corners as it drove through loopholes in law and regulation.
According to records, the company’s public policy head Jordan Condo wanted Uber to “establish public-private partnerships with the government and have influence within the government invested in the success of our business”.
Edited excerpts from an interview with Mark MacGann, who worked for Uber between 2014 and 2016 and revealed himself as the whistleblower who provided The Guardian with 124,000 company records that constitute The Uber Files.
The new laws would have “penalising” provisions to ensure that such platforms are accountable” and protect the interests of digital nagriks, sources in the government said.
The 100-day vigil: How a custodial death case ended in a state-ordered cremation
India29 min ago
After 100 days, the body of 26-year-old Dalit man Akash Delison was finally removed from a government hospital and cremated under police protection. His family had demanded justice for his alleged death in police custody and refused to accept the body until all 16 involved officers were arrested. Despite actions taken, their demand for accountability remains unmet.
