Uber

Dear Uber --

Thank you for inviting comments. The continued participation of Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick on the president's Business Advisory Council suggests that he desires to act as a collaborator with an administration that has -- not two weeks into its existence -- demonstrated a willingness to run roughshod over many values that make this country (and companies like Uber itself, which rely on the sweat, brains, and creativity of immigrants from all around the world) strong.

Mr. Kalanick has asserted that Uber's participation in conversations with governments constitutes an effort to "give [...] citizens a voice, a seat at the table." To be clear: I did not elect Mr. Kalanick to be my voice at any table, let alone one in the White House. Nor do I hope to imagine that any of my fellow citizens would be so deluded as to imagine that the CEO of a technology company represents the interests of anyone or thing other than those of the company.

If my Uber patronage, at any point, was interpreted by Mr. Kalanick as an expression of a wish for him to represent me to the President of the United States, I hope that this note relieves him of that delusion.

Were Mr. Kalanick to resign from the advisory council in protest, urge others to do so, and focus Uber's resources on ensuring stronger labor protections for Uber drivers and on the creation of industry-leading safeguards of user data, I might be inclined to use the company's services again. Until then, I will take my business elsewhere.

Sincerely,

A-J Aronstein