merelygifted:

124,000 documents expose inner workings behind US tech firm’s rise as a global empire responsible for 19m journeys a day

• More than 124,000 confidential documents leaked to the Guardian
• Files expose attempts to lobby Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz and George Osborne
• Emmanuel Macron secretly aided Uber lobbying in France, texts reveal
• Company used ‘kill switch’ during raids to stop police seeing data
• Former Uber CEO told executives ‘violence guarantees success’

A leaked trove of confidential files has revealed the inside story of how the tech giant Uber flouted laws, duped police, exploited violence against drivers and secretly lobbied governments during its aggressive global expansion.

The unprecedented leak to the Guardian of more than 124,000 documents – known as the Uber files – lays bare the ethically questionable practices that fuelled the company’s transformation into one of Silicon Valley’s most famous exports.

The leak spans a five-year period when Uber was run by its co-founder Travis Kalanick, who tried to force the cab-hailing service into cities around the world, even if that meant breaching laws and taxi regulations.

During the fierce global backlash, the data shows how Uber tried to shore up support by discreetly courting prime ministers, presidents, billionaires, oligarchs and media barons.  …