Uber hires first chief privacy officer

Uber has hired its first chief privacy officer ahead of the ride hailing appmaker's planned initial public offer next year.

Announcing the appointment of Ruby Zefo, chief legal officer Tony West said she would fill a "critical global role responsible for the development and implementation of privacy standards, procedures, and processes in every market where we operate".

Zefo, who also serves on the board for the International Association of Privacy Professionals and led Intel’s global privacy and security legal team, will start at Uber's San Francisco base on 6 August.

West also announced that Simon Hania will be Uber's first data protection officer, filling a position required under the recently imposed EU's General Data Protection Regulation. He will have to check Uber’s compliance with EU data protection laws.

Hania previously worked at TomTom as vice president of privacy and security and focused on connected and autonomous vehicles, and wearable technologies.

These appointments are part of the company’s recent mission to move past the data breach scandal, as well as other weak privacy practices employed by former CEO Travis Kalanick, who resigned last year.

Uber is also bulking up their leadership team ahead of the company's IPO next year. In an interview with Business Insider, CEO Dara Khosrowashahi said in late May this year that Uber was on the right track towards the stock market but some issues needed improving before.

"We are in a good position in terms of the company's profile in terms of profitability," Khosrowshahi said in the interview. "Margins continue to get better. We have a very strong balance sheet, and I do think that we are on track, but first we need to hire a chief financial officer."