Press Release....Operation No One, Update!

Saturday night, Novikov's rank was rendered unusable as cars had been allowed to park up. 

So, where were the elusive operation neon offices?

They were in Piccadilly hanging around, making sure that no one makes off with the bus stop.

While we are on the subject of TfL's so called anti touting squad (Operation Neon): 

Sohail Masood, was found guilty of soliciting people for private vehicle hire by the act of donning a yellow HiVis jacket and waiting for train passengers to approach him. 

> Click here for full story<

Why is this man from Diamond chauffeurs allowed to solicit for custom on the pavement outside Tiger Tiger.

Why has he not been arrested yet ? 

Could someone from TfL kindly contact Taxi Leaks and explain what part of the PHV act 1998 allows this type of touting. 

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Event Taxi Rank For Kew The Music Concert, Being Held Kew Gardens 12/17 July.

A taxi rank will operate on Kew Road during the "Kew the music" concert in Kew gardens.

The taxi rank will be situated on the Kew Road near the Victoria gate entrance.

The rank will operate between 21:30 and 23:30 on the following dates;

• Tuesday, 12 July 2016

• Wednesday, 13 July 2016

• Thursday 14 July 2016

• Friday, 15 July 2016

• Saturday, 16 July 2016

• Sunday, 17 July 2016

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Uber In Panic As 14 Major Security Bugs Found In Mobile App.

Uber Bugs Allowed Hackers to Gather Details on Rides, Drivers and Passengers

Uber is in the process of fixing a slew of security bugs disclosed by security firm Integrity, who discovered and reported 14 issues it found on the company's websites and mobile applications.

The security firm only published details about six of these bugs, as they're waiting on Uber to patch four more.

The first issue they discovered had the potential to launch brute-force attacks against Uber's promo code feature panel coming from Uber drivers themselves.

Researchers discover 1,000 active promo codes

The researchers found over 1,000 active promo codes by trying countless random promo code combinations and even discovered a ERH (Emergency Ride Home) code that would have added £'s to each driver's fair earnings.

The second issue they discovered allowed researchers/drivers to extract user details via the mobile app's Help section, which, in turn, enabled them to get the victim's email address.

The third bug manifested with UberPool where users share the fare. Researchers said they were able to get the driver and invitee's UUID and then request private information like names, pictures, location, status, rating, phone numbers, and more.

Security firm discovers a method for adding rogue Uber drivers

The fourth problem was in the Uber app's driver activation process. In order for drivers to access a specific area of the Uber app reserved for them, they need to ask the company to activate their account. Researchers discovered that, by toggling the "isActivated" parameter to "true," they could add rogue drivers to the service.

A fifth issue allowed researchers to access a driver's waybill section, from where they had access to the driver's name, license plate, car model, last ride history, and much more. Researchers did not publicly disclose all details about this bug because it also allowed them to list the full path of the driver's previous trip.

The sixth issue is derived from the third. Once the researchers got their hands on a user UUID, they were able to get information about that person's trips, in great detail, enough to plot out a map.

Source: News Softpedia. 

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Uber To Hide Surge Pricing From Customers

Uber says it will hide surge pricing notifications for more of its users to make its app less "complicated".

During busy periods, the taxi firm's customers are currently told they will be charged a "surge price" such as 1.7 or 2.3 times the standard fare.

Customers will instead be shown a fixed fee with a notice that "fares are higher due to increased demand".

One analyst said hiding the surge price multiplier could stop people being discouraged from using the service.

"I've been in the situation myself, where I've held off using an Uber during a surge," said Jim Clark, research director at Econsultancy.

"We are sensitive to price - as a nation we do like a bargain and that's one of the reasons they'll be making this change."

In a blog post, Uber said it had started rolling out the change in the US and India in April.

Uber said more cities would follow suit.

'Complicated math'

In addition to hiding the surge price multiplier, Uber is also removing an option that notifies customers when the surge price drops.

Uber said the changes made the app "clear and simple".

"There's no complicated math and no surprises - passengers can just sit back and enjoy the ride," it said.

However, Mr Clark said hiding the surge price could also have a financial benefit for Uber.

"There is the argument that it becomes quicker and easier to see the price," Mr Clark told the BBC.

"But I think that's an argument only Uber might make rather than anybody else.

"From a business perspective, it makes sense - it encourages people to use the service.

"But it's important to give users a choice of whether to wait - being given all the information is the spirit of the sharing economy. At the very least they could give users the option to switch the surge information on or off."

Source : BBC.

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Dads Defending Daughters from 154 Minicab Related Serious Sexual Assaults Including Rape.

"We shall defend our daughters, our wives, our sons, whatever the cost may be. We shall defend them on the streets, we shall defend them on our ranks, we shall defend them on the Internet and through social media. We shall never, never surrender!"

Dads Defending Daughters, supported by contingents from the MayfairMob, SaveTaxi Facebook group and the RMT, held a peaceful demonstration in Parliament Square. 

Every participant holding aloft an explanatory placard or banner, getting across the statistics, which are being suppress and held back from the general public. 

From Feb 2016 to Feb 2016 there were 154 Minicab related serious sexual assaults, including Rape.

32 Uber of these attacks were alleged by the Met Police to have been carried out by Uber drivers.

These tatistics have been confirmed by freedom of information request made directly to the Metropolitan Police.

TfL were in shock when first the LTDA AdVan was seen outside clubs and bars showing these figures. Pressure was put to soften the message, and the LTDA as normal, duly obliged. 

Although plans for this day were kept off social media, the message went out through word of mouth, hundreds turned up on foot and lined three sides of the square. 

I was surprised to find how much interest there was from people in the square, inquiring into the nature of the placards, advertising the shocking statistics. 

Again, trying to hide away over the other side of the square were four TfL Compliance officers who had removed their yellow HiVis jackets to blend in with the public. They were seen taking photographs of demonstrators. 

I crossed the road and proceeded to take their photo, but they rushed off in the direction of Windsor house. 

Because of the referendum, the world's press were in and around the Square and many interviews with foreign journalists took place. Then after two hours, the drivers, friends and family members, marched peacefully to Sajid Javid's office, passing the world's media encampment on College Green.

On arrival at Javid's office, a statement was read to the crowd  over loud speaker by Marc Turner. After a rousing round of applause, the demonstration dispersed. Arriving back at the 'iron lung', it was found a number of Taxis had been given parking tickets. A quick collection took place amongst the drivers to pay the fines. 

The demo itself was amazing. Although the message being put across to the public was very serious, drivers managed to stay calm, collected and peaceful. Officers from the Met Police support unit, praised the drivers for their excellent behaviour. Drivers were surprise to find support from the celebrity of the day who just happened to pull over to show support to DDDs

We could have filled the Square with Taxis, beeping their horns and waving fists, traffic could have been disrupted for a couple of hours , but would the public have understood the message?

The banners were an excellent idea and it is a suggestion that all future demos be accompanied by placards and banners to let everyone know exactly why we are taking to the streets.

..

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Open Letter To Sadiq Khan, Ahead Of Tomorrow's Demonstration From Dads Defending Daughters.

          Sadiq Khan with his wife and daughters 

PREVENTION AND CURE

Dear Mayor Khan,
I acknowledge that you are a busy man, but feel I must impose upon your for one moment, about a subject that I know is close to your heart.

'Dads Defending Daughters' will stage a static protest at Parliament Square, on Friday 24th June 2016.
This protest is not about you. It is about the state in which your predecessor left London.

Symptoms: Rape and sexual assault.
Our protest will be to highlight the symptoms of a poorly run and corrupt Transport for London and Department for Transport.
Those symptoms are the unacceptable level of rape and sexual assault in TfL licensed Private Hire minicabs.

Cause: Corrupt and unscrupulous officials.
TfL have lowered the standard of Private Hire to an unregulated, 'pay your money, no questions asked' free for all, to accommodate a powerfully backed, tax dodging, foreign company who are prepared to employ the unemployable.
DfT refuse to acknowledge the elephant in the room, due to pressure from the likes of Sajid Javid, Baroness Kramer, 'Government' Sachs, David Cameron, George Osborne, bought and paid for MPs and lobbyists; all putting profit and employment figures ahead of your travelling public's safety.
These power orientated people view the public as consumers, not as human beings.

Cure: Mayor's office.
I understand that the EU Referendum is tomorrow. Therefore I do not expect a prompt reply.
Deputy Mayor for Transport, Valerie Shawcross and you have done more in five weeks, than Boris Johnson did in eight years.
You have finally started the engine. Boris never even opened the garage door.

Prevention: Three points to put into force:
No onscreen app location of cabs.
This invites young people to approach a driver, they have seen onscreen, for cash. A common occurrence, suiting both parties.
Leaving no secure proof of journey, and open to the dangers of predators and mistaken identity.

A minimum of five years residency for any PH or Taxi applicant.
No more letters of good conduct from foreign countries or sponsors.
The licensing authority should be able to DBS from a United Kingdom record system.
No one should be left in charge of vulnerable people without an enhanced background check.

The banning of blacked out, obscured and tinted windows.
No one can see if a vulnerable person is in distress.
These are a dangerous and non essential extra, and could be the difference between rape and rescue.

I know you are determined to put forward the capping of Private Hire vehicles.
We Londoners welcome this, for many reasons.
And we do not expect anything to change overnight.
But the regulations that are already in place must be tightened up immediately and enforced correctly.

Please ask yourself these two simple questions:

1. Would I feel at ease knowing one of my daughters is travelling in a TfL licensed minicab, under such unregulated circumstances?

2. What would I do, as a Dad Defending his Daughters, to make it safer for my children to get home in a minicab?

Hopefully, after the EU Referendum, you can reflect upon this letter, and our concerns.
You have done brilliantly to get to where you are from such humble origins; to become Sadiq Khan - Mayor of London.
But we Londoners expect more from one of our own.

Yours faithfully,
Leonard H. Etheridge.

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Letter To Taxi Leaks : Statement From The Mayfair Mob

 

 

In recent times we have found ourselves in the position of being compromised by the behaviour of the LTDA senior management as they have in our opinion, attempted to hijack ideas and initiatives shared with them in good faith whilst also claiming credit for the work of driver led actions in the London Taxi Trade.

MM LTDA members who have tried to become more proactive members of the association have been continuously obstructed in their efforts to assist in making the LTDA more representative of its members. To date, two MM members have been expelled, causing us to be drawn in to the very trade politics that we prefer to avoid.

On this occasion however, we feel that the politics was aimed towards the honest efforts of working taxi drivers and is unjustified. We have tried to step away from this friction and have until very recently, cooperated with the LTDA and welcomed the Advan enthusiastically to our 'Hits', 'Starves' and Legitimate Protests in the spirit of working fellowship.

The machinations of the LTDA at Tuesday's Branch Meeting have now made this relationship untenable. In circumventing their own rule book in an abuse of process rarely witnessed anywhere, they have apparently gerrymandered their own branch elections. In doing this they have demonstrated their intention to protect, not the London Taxi Trade but their own salaries and positions in the LTDA above all considerations. This lack of integrity is a betrayal of the members best interests and those of the trade in general.

We therefore feel that the MM as a group can no longer continue to interact with the board of the LTDA including the use/attendance of the Advan on actions taken by the MM. We do this with heavy hearts but feel our hands have been forced. We hope that this situation can be resolved in the near future.

Our present rank and file LTDA members are obviously still welcomed and valued by all in MM, as are members of all orgs, unions and others. We value our cross-org ethos.

We are after all, not a mob: We're a mentality! Regards to you all,

The Mayfair Mob.

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