Update 28/7/15: Uber has responded to a request for comment to categorically denyclaims that its in-app map does not use real time data to show exactly where drivers are all the time. You can read Uber's full response here. WIRED.co.uk has been in touch with the researchers behind the claims and will update this article accordingly if we hear back.

When you open Uber and those mini black cars appear dotted around your local area map, you breathe a sigh of relief knowing a swift journey home -- bypassing sweaty public transport -- is within reach. But, according to a new study, the little cars are a total lie. "The presence of those virtual cars on the passenger's screen does not necessarily reflect an accurate number of drivers who are physically present or their precise locations," two employees of New York think tank Data & Society, which is due to publish the findings soon, write on current affairs site Slate. "Instead, these phantom cars are part of a 'visual effect' that Uber uses to emphasise the proximity of drivers to passengers. Not surprisingly, the visual effect shows cars nearby, even when they might not actually exist."


Penned by Alex Rosenblat and Luke Stark and described in Slate by their peers, the paper takes a look at how Uber justifies the stance that it is a facilitator not an employer.

It argues the debate over Uber's employer status comes down to its algorithm, partly because its "facilitator" status relies on that algorithm setting the price based on real-time demand. The article then proceeds to pick apart the technology -- right down to the troubling truth about those nifty on-screen moving vehicles. "According to its patents, Uber generates surge based on the projected demand of riders at some point in the future," the Slate article says. That's "projected", not real-time analysis. "The suppliers get to see only what a system expects the state of the market to be, and not the market itself."

The marketplace Uber has created for the world, designed to deliver seamless journeys at a low and fair price, is a "mirage", the authors argue. And in reality, the company has far more influence than it would like to let on.

Uber has since denied these claims to WIRED.co.uk, and the company's full response can be found here.


Uber is no stranger to controversy. Earlier this month a California court ruled one Uber driver, Barbara Berwick, was an employee not a contractor. The court said the ride-hailing company owed her thousands of dollars in business expenses. Uber is appealing the ruling.

The firm hasn't faced the same legal challenges in the UK, but Transport for London has attempted to get clarification from the High Court on whether smartphones used by Uber drivers comply with laws on taximeters used by black cabs.

There have also been reports of disgruntled Uber drivers in the UK ready to protest against falling pay and the ever-lingering threat of being ditched because of customer complaints.