Troubled Amanda Bynes Tracked through Uber, Car Service Company Possibly Under Fire as It Becomes Hacker-Friendly
Amanda Bynes' claims against her parents did not stop them from wanting to know where she is. According to latest reports, Bynes' mother and father have resulted to tracking her via GPS.
Uber car services can be more useful than the company initially intends to be as Lynn Bynes decided to set up an account to reach a compromise. Signing up Amanda for Uber gives the troubled celebrity the freedom to go wherever she wants while allowing her parents to know where she is. According to RadarOnline's source: "Amanda's mom, Lynn, set up the Uber car service on her daughter's cell phone."
"Uber can take Amanda anywhere she needs to go and it's paid for out of Amanda's estate, since her mom has conservatorship."
The source also added that the setup allows Amanda to be independent while giving her parents the chance to know where she is at most times. Although Bynes has been under conservatorship, she has decided to live at a hotel in Glendale, California. Nonetheless, the insider shared: "Amanda's parents are getting ready to move back to Texas. They had only come out to California after Amanda started exhibiting serious problems and they feel they've done all they can."
The setup for the celebrity may be a good compromise for her parents but Uber has been under fire recently for a series of blunders. Washington Post now highlights the cyber security risk associated with obtaining massive private user and travel information.
Uber has a wide set of clientele including government officials in Washington, business owners in San Francisco and even financiers in London. Consider the GPS-quality precision that hackers can obtain on these people and what they can do with it. Individual employees may also access the database without the consent of the riders much like how a New York City Uber executive pulled out records of a Buzzfeed reporter covering the company. This is a hacking opportunity that needs to be addressed.
Citizen Lab digital privacy expert said: "It's a huge trove of data that could be used for a whole number of uses."