Report: During Canada tax raid, Uber “remotely encrypted corporate data”

The logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone over a reserved lane for taxis in a street is seen in this photo illustration taken in Madrid on December 10, 2014. (REUTERS/Sergio Perez)


The logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone over a reserved lane for taxis in a street is seen in this photo illustration taken in Madrid on December 10, 2014. (REUTERS/Sergio Perez)

An item in the French-language Canadian newspaper La Presse that has been making the English-language rounds this week, roughly translated here in part:

“Uber Engineers in San Francisco tried to remotely encrypt data in Uber Canada computers during a search conducted by Revenu Québec in Montreal last week.

“This is what Revenu Québec claims in a statement filed before Judge Jean-Pierre Braun last week, a copy of which La Presse has obtained. Uber sought to challenge this statement before the judge, but has not had the opportunity, we learn in the injunction Uber also presented in court last week.”

“Search for Uber Canada offices: On May 14, fifteen Revenu Québec investigators conducted searches for computer data at the administrative offices of Uber Canada, Notre Dame. Investigators are looking for evidence to prove that Uber Canada violates Canadian tax law by not collecting GST and QST on behalf of its UberX drivers.”

“Around 10:40, one of the investigators found that 'mobile devices such as laptops, smart phones and tablets were restarted remotely' during the seizure. Another investigator, who performed a second search in another office, experienced the same, also at 10:40am.”

More here.

[via Hacker News]