Do we like Uber?
Ride-hailing and food-delivery app run in 70+ countries by Uber Technologies, a California-based company.
Our score: 3 out of 10. Useful app, but regulators and courts keep catching it out on drivers, data and subscriptions. We wouldn't back it with our money yet.
Uber took over from founder Travis Kalanick when Dara Khosrowshahi became CEO in 2017, at a time of legal fights, bad press and big losses. He came from Expedia and has run it since. Fortune reports he expects staff to be on call at weekends.
The big recent drama is in Europe. In August 2026 the Dutch data protection authority fined Uber €825m for deactivating driver accounts by automated systems without enough human review or warning. It covered 2018 to 2022. Uber says it will appeal and disputes parts of the finding.
Drivers' status is a long-running fight. The UK Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that drivers are workers, and New Zealand's Supreme Court ruled in 2025 that four drivers were employees. France's top court went Uber's way in 2025 and said its drivers are independent contractors.
Customers and riders have complaints too. The FTC, joined by 21 states and DC, alleges Uber signed people up to Uber One without consent and made it hard to cancel. Uber says its process is clear and lawful. A federal jury in Arizona also ordered Uber to pay $8.5m in a driver sexual-assault case.
Why 3/10? The service is widely used and the company is under new management, but regulators on several continents keep finding fault with how it treats drivers, data and customers. Many of these cases are still being appealed or fought, so that could change.