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Mark Markovich

When Uber crashed into Portland in December 2014, it immediately began Greyballing.

That's the verb that's come to correspond to the controversial tool—Greyball—that the ride-sharing giant used to weed out potential regulators, ensuring they weren't given rides and so couldn't crack down on drivers.

In Portland, where irate officials were demanding Uber cease operations while regulations were crafted, the company Greyballed 17 users from December 5 to December 19, 2014. It denied a total of 29 requests for rides (26 of those requests from one account) over that two-week period, according to an audit the Portland Bureau of Transportation released on Friday.

Eventually Uber and the city reached an accord, and the company ceased operating in Portland. According to the PBOT's report, the ride-sharing service doesn't appear to have used Greyball after it began operating legally in April 2015.

The city audit began in March, after the New York Times reported the existence of Greyball. At the time, angry city officials were saber rattling because of new evidence of chicanery from the company. But the report released today didn't shake out many skeletons.

Uber had already admitted to using Greyball in Portland for a time, and the city can't prove it has employed the tactic more extensively. Auditors also didn't find evidence Uber—or its competitor Lyft, which was also scrutinized—sought to give disparate service to varying zip codes or in any way attempted to evade regular inspections.

The audits "don't seem to show any evidence of discriminating against people based on income, nor that our regulators had had any trouble [inspecting] Uber," says Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who was the city's transportation commissioner until yesterday (Mayor Ted Wheeler has temporarily assigned himself all city bureaus while a budget is developed).

Despite the fairly sanguine conclusions of PBOT's report, though, legal drama and code changes appear likely to arise from the document.

Saltzman told OPB and the Oregonian yesterday he will push his City Council colleagues to okay a subpoena seeking Uber's "playbook" for how to use Greyball, along with any algorithm the software uses. Saltzman could bring a resolution for a subpoena to council in two weeks, though, as OPB noted, there's not much precedent for the city using that particular legal instrument.

"I actively believe they owe us that information," says Saltzman, noting the city hopes to use the data to figure out if Uber is using any other software tricks officials aren't aware of.

You can probably expect Uber to put up a fight. The reason Saltzman's pushing for a subpoena—a step initially threatened by Commissioner Nick Fish, who has a longstanding ire where Uber is concerned—is that the company refused to supply the data voluntarily. Today's PBOT audit notes:

"PBOT views Uber’s failure to comply with deep concern. This failure calls into question Uber’s commitment to comply in general with the City of Portland’s regulatory framework. It also raises questions about Uber’s ability to be a trustworthy partner in PBOT’s efforts to ensure that Portland’s TNC customers receive safe and reliable service."

Portland officials are also planning to use the audit to develop stricter code regulations around so-called Transportation Network Companies like Uber and Lyft, though Saltzman couldn't offer specifics.

The entire audit [PDF] is worth a glance. It includes some interesting tidbits, such as the fact that more than a quarter of Uber and Lyft drivers whom the city has inspected weren't able to provide a proof of their company insurance.

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City of Portland

It also includes an interesting account of Uber's use of Greyball in Portland from the company's New York-based attorney, who writes that the company was "deeply concerned that its driver partners would be penalized financially" for being illegal Uber drivers in 2014.

The attorney, Thomas Perrelli, downplays the software's use for thwarting enforcement. At the same time Uber shows regulators fake maps of where its vehicles are (as happened in Portland), it also uses the technology to, for instance, change the appearance of Uber vehicles in the app to reflect city sports teams, Perrelli writes.

In response to the audit, Uber praised many of the report's conclusions. Company spokesman Nathan Hambley also couldn't resist taking a shot at Fish, the most persistent Uber critic on council.

"It is unfortunate this investigation and the report have become so politically charged, and that Commissioner Fish has used the process to make baseless claims about our conduct in Portland," the statement reads.

Update, 9 am, May 1: FISH RESPONDS. The commissioner sent this statement over the weekend.

"Uber may not like the sunshine on their business practices, but our job is to enforce the law and protect consumers. Since the company failed to turn over all the documents the city requested, I will join Dan in voting to authorize a subpoena."