watch the investigation showing how Emmanuel Macron facilitated the installation of the VTC giant in France when he was Minister of the Economy

It’s’secret history between Emmanuel Macron and Travis Kalanick, CEO of Uber. It starts on October 1, 2014. We can tell it thanks to the Uber Files. These are thousands of documents recovered by the British newspaper The Guardianand shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its partners, including the investigation unit of Radio France.

>> Uber Files: how Emmanuel Macron got involved when the VTC giant arrived in France

These documents dating from 2013 to 2017 reveal that the company benefited from the benevolence and support of the current President of the Republic when he was at the Ministry of the Economy. Beyond the French case, the investigation conducted by the ICIJ and its partners makes it possible to understand how the VTC giant has conquered the planet by sometimes surfing at the borders of legality.

>> Uber Files: revelations about the VTC giant’s lobbying practices

To prevent investigators from having access to its data during searches, Uber had designed a “circuit breaker” preventing access to its servers. The investigators saw nothing but fire, including in France.

>> “Activate the kill switch!” : when Uber neutralized its computers remotely to block searches

A former examining magistrate of the national financial center whom we consulted considers that this system, nicknamed “kill switch”, could fall under article 434-4 of the penal code. “It can fall under the law if we manage to demonstrate the intention to proceed with a subtraction of evidence”abounds Sophie Sontag Koenig, lecturer in law at the University of Paris Nanterre and specialist in digital issues.