Uber accidentally exposed one driver's personal tax information and social security number

Jan 26, 2016 Admin 0 Comments

A bad bug in Uber's code resulted in one driver's personal tax information being accessible to US drivers looking to get a head start on their taxes.

Over the weekend, Uber posted the 1099 tax information for 2015 in the Uber driver dashboard.

Soon after, drivers started reporting that the tax information on their account was incorrect. Instead, it all pointed to one woman: a driver in New Port Richey, Florida.

Any driver who had access to their tax information could see the driver's information, including SSN and address, but their own 1099 form was missing. It's unknown how many drivers accessed the information in the short time period it was displayed. Uber confirmed the bug, and shut down the part of its platform where drivers could access their tax paperwork. While many Uber drivers were concerned that it meant their information had been leaked to others, Uber reiterated that it only affected the one individual. "We take partner privacy very seriously and make every effort to ensure the security of personal information. Due to a bug in our system, one partner’s 1099 information was viewable by other drivers for a short period of time. The bug has been fixed and we’re deeply sorry. We are in contact with the driver whose information was affected," an Uber spokeswoman told Business Insider. Uber has promised to provide credit monitoring and other support to the affected driver. Everyone else will have to wait another week before their tax information will be posted again. It's not the first time Uber has had a problem protecting driver's information. In May 2014, Uber said its database had been accessed by an unauthorized party and more than 50,000 drivers had their information compromised. The company recently agreed to pay a $20,000 settlement with the state of NY for not notifying its New York-based drivers in an expedited man