City of Portland Concludes Investigation of Uber Without Any Findings of Further Wrongdoing

The city of Portland has ended its investigation of Uber, and the ride-hailing company's use of the "Greyball" technology used to evade regulators in 2014, without finding further wrongdoing.

Portland launched its investigation after the New York Times revealed that Uber had programmed its app to make sure Portland regulators could not hail rides.

Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who announced the conclusion of the investigation via a press release, tells WW that the city found "no evidence of discrimination by economic status or zip code"—one possible concern about a company that could secretly restrict access to its app.

Using city data and the data provided by the company after City Council issued a legislative subpoena, Saltzman says the city believes Greyball is no longer being used to prevent regulators from hailing a car.

"We don't feel there's any greyballing going on with respect to regulators or customers," Saltzman tells WW, adding the company has put in place policies to prevent the use of Greyball for that use.

"Uber has complied with our subpoena and provided the requested information associated with the Greyball tool," Saltzman said in the official statement.

"Through this subpoena process, we have a greater understanding of their activities in Portland, and the extent to which the Greyball tool was used here. Moving forward, we have ensured that no attempts to evade regulators or deny service to riders in violation of City code or law will be allowed in the future."