On Friday, Fowler tweeted that someone was doing research for a "smear campaign" against her, warning her friends to beware of anyone seeking personal information about her.
Many people on Twitter immediately suspected Uber as the source of the research into Fowler, due to the company's ongoing investigation into her claims of sexual harassment in the workplace. Fowler later clarified that she didn't know who was behind it the efforts to obtain information about her private life.
Uber told Business Insider on Friday that it was not involved:
"Uber is in no way involved. This behavior is wrong," an Uber spokesperson told Business Insider.
The claims of sexual harassment at Uber are the latest in a string of negative publicity that the $69 billion ride-hailing company has suffered this week, along with a lawsuit by Google alleging that the technology used in Uber self-driving cars were stolen. Uber has called the lawsuit "baseless."
I don't know who is doing this or why. If someone contacts you, please send me their contact information immediately.
- Susan Fowler Rigetti (@susanthesquark) February 24, 2017