Uber later this month will bring on board a chief security
officer to tackle concerns of data security and privacy at the company, the
app-based car service company announced Thursday.
To fill the new role, Uber hired Joe Sullivan, who after
five years is leaving the same position at Facebook. Once dubbed "Facebook's
top cop" by Forbes, Sullivan has
held similar positions at eBay and PayPal and spent eight years prosecuting
cybercrime at the U.S. Department of Justice.
As Uber becomes more deeply entrenched in the
corporate travel sphere, travel buyers have voiced concerns about its protocols
around both data security and the drivers themselves. While Sullivan will
address both those issues, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in a blog post indicated the
job would entail more.
"It's no longer about traditional metrics for safe
transportation or keeping our community's data private and secure but about how
we lead efforts to redefine and strengthen physical and data security in the
location-based world," Kalanick wrote. "We see opportunities ahead
not just in technology, through biometrics and driver monitoring, but in the
potential for inspiring collaborations with city and state governments around
the world."
Uber already employs a head of global safety, Phil Cardenas, who joined Uber from Airbnb last year. Cardenas and his team will report to Sullivan when he joins the company.