Uber has responded to concerns over the company's privacy policy, after it was reported last month that one of its employees tracked a journalist's location using an internal tool called "God View." In a letter to Senator Al Franken (D-MN), the company says employee Josh Mohrer tracked BuzzFeed News reporter Johana Bhuiyan because she was "30 minutes late" to a meeting, and he wanted to meet her in the lobby. Uber adds that Mohrer showed "poor" judgment in using God View to access Bhuiyan's data, and that he was disciplined "accordingly."

"While I'm pleased that they replied to my letter, I am concerned about the surprising lack of detail in their response," Franken said. "Quite frankly, they did not answer many of the questions I posed directly to them. Most importantly, it still remains unclear how Uber defines legitimate business purposes for accessing, retaining, and sharing customer data. I will continue pressing for answers to these questions."

The "God View" incident was reported one day after Uber's senior vice president of business, Emil Michael, suggested spending $1 million to dig up dirt on PandoDaily editor-in-chief Sarah Lacy, who has been publicly critical of the company. In its letter to Franken, Uber contended that the media has "generated misconceptions" about how it handles its customers' personal data.