The ride-hailing company says disclosing drivers' names in public records would hurt its business.
Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. have argued to Chicago city officials that the names of their drivers should be treated as “trade secrets” and should not be released because competitors could use the information to attempt to hire them away.
Previously unreleased documents reviewed by Bloomberg illustrate the companies’ acute concern that their drivers not abandon their platforms. In letters to the city, companies offered a series of reasons for not wanting the names disclosed, including the safety and privacy of drivers, the potential disclosure of competitive market share data, rules around keeping identities of vendors and customers private, and the possibility of poaching.
In an emailed statement, Uber spokeswoman Kelley Quinn said, “Our position on disclosing confidential, personal, or proprietary information has not changed.”The company said that it takes substantial resources to get a pool of eligible and licensed drivers, and obtaining its driver list would make it easy for a competitor to target them for recruitment.
“Given the arms-length relationship that Uber and Lyft have tried to maintain with their drivers, the argument that a driver list is an important source of competitive advantage seems weaker,” he said.
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