Uber and Lyft's fight for ride-sharing app dominance could be even dirtier than it seemed. A new Reuters report found that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into whether anyone working at Lyft may have been part of the theft of personal details for up to 50,000 Uber drivers last year. In other words, the Uber vs. Lyft war may be reaching new heights.
Uber's own investigation found that the hack could be traced to an Internet address associated with Lyft CTO Chris Lambert, but now the DOJ could be getting involved, although the agency would not confirm or deny whether there is an actual investigation. Lyft has denied any connection between Lambert and the hack.
Though undeniably a big deal if it turns out a Lyft executive was involved, this is hardly the first time Uber and Lyft's competition has gotten dirty. After Uber hired away Lyft's former COO Travis VanderZanden, Lyft claimed that he had stolen proprietary information from the company before leaving, and sued Uber over it. Lyft is also accusing VanderZanden of other contract breaches, including trying to get other Lyft employees to join him at Uber. VanderZanden was himself one of several Lyft execs headhunted by Uber to grow its operation, especially overseas.
Even that was as nothing compared to the accusations of sabotage hurled at each other by both Uber and Lyft. Lyft claimed that Uber was getting drivers to make and cancel thousands of rides. Uber both denied the accusation and turned it around to claim that in fact it was Lyft engaging in underhanded competition. Uber's supposed "dirty tricks" book was leaked online and was full of tactics like fake Lyft accounts, burner phones and credit cards secretly linked to Uber, but again Uber categorically denied any wrongdoing.
Despite the successes of both companies when they have teamed up to fight for regulations that both companies can live with, the inter-company war is clearly not going to go away any time soon. Whether or not the DOJ criminal probe finds anything, 2016 will be sure to bring plenty more battles between Uber and Lyft even as they necessarily work together to carve out space for their shared industry.
