AppleInsider Staff
Popular connected transportation service Uber has hired away Apple lawyer Sabrina Ross to work on an internal team focusing on privacy law, according to a report on Wednesday.
At Uber, Ross will work on a team led by Katherine Tassi, the company's managing counsel and former head of data protection at Facebook, reports Re/code.
The publication confirmed Ross' move on Wednesday, saying her new position entails work on privacy concerns, including strategic Uber partnerships, and regulatory policy issues. Ross worked at Apple for a little over one year as the company's privacy counsel before leaving in April.
Uber recently came under fire after it was discovered that employees were capable of monitoring customers' locations in real-time even after a ride transaction was completed. The company has since removed such functionality and is working hard to clamp down on user privacy problems.
Customer location data is key to Uber's appeal as an on-demand transportation service. When a user requests a car through the Uber smartphone app, GPS positioning data is sent out to nearby drivers for quick pickups at the press of a button. Customers can view driver details, including a requested car's position and estimated arrival time.
This isn't the first time Uber made advances to an Apple employee. Last July, Apple reportedly lost a senior engineer from its mapping department.
Andrew Orr
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
Christine McKee
William Gallagher
24 Comments
Why in the hell is it that if somebody goes to work for Apple or leaves Apple for someone else it is poaching? Sounds like someone took an opportunity to maybe better themselves or work closer to home, etc.... AI sez "This isn't the first time Uber made advances to an Apple employee", more likely a head hunter that found some talent to fill a position that was available. Sounds like working in a free market to me.
So why is this poaching?
How about, who gives a rusty frack? Apple legal is massive and talent second to none.
Why in the hell is it that if somebody goes to work for Apple or leaves Apple for someone else it is poaching? Sounds like someone took an opportunity to maybe better themselves or work closer to home, etc.... AI sez "This isn't the first time Uber made advances to an Apple employee", more likely a head hunter that found some talent to fill a position that was available. Sounds like working in a free market to me.
So why is this poaching?
Simple. Put the word "Apple" into anything, extract an implied intent and you got yourself a headline, even thought its not really anything more than a fart in the wind.
Not sure how many lawyers Apple employs, but it's gotta be a massive workforce. A friend of mine is an attorney for Apple and listening to some (public) stories from their perspective makes me think they have an army of them. Losing one person isn't even a blip on their staff count.
However, use the word "Poach" and it implies something insidious or doom-and-gloom when used in Apple's context.
She should have went to work for Google instead.
[quote name="EricTheHalfBee" url="/t/186360/uber-poaches-apple-legal-counsel-to-work-on-privacy-issues#post_2725699"]She should have went to work for Google instead. [/quote] Begone with that kind of talk ... http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000217.htm