Uber’s leadership understood that people hailing a ride close to police stations would likely be police officers, and that people frequently visiting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) building in Washington, DC, might work for the regulatory agency. Because police officers and public officials were trying to crack down on Uber, particularly in locations that had outlawed or were evaluating the legality of service, the com pany built a custom- made app to avoid such users. Once software had spotted users close to law enforcement offices, the user was promptly served a diff er ent, tailormade experience in a parallel app named Greyball. This app would display “ghost cars”— vehicles that showed up in the app but were not real— and this made it nearly impossible for those users to get a ride. The unassuming employee of a parliament or oversight body had no idea they were ghosted. A later story in the New York Times featuring four courageous whistle blowers indicated that Greyball was being used on a global scale.