Uber denies ties to firm running in-car surveys during SXSW

AUSTIN, Texas — Uber said today that it had nothing to do with an in-car survey as many as 20 of its drivers have been tasked with asking riders to take during South by Southwest here.

According to the Daily Dot, the drivers have been asking riders to take a survey from a marketing company called PaintVoice.

PaintVoice apparently ran a Craigslist ad in advance of SXSW that read, “We are introducing a new innovative way to advertise,” reported the Daily Dot. “We want to put your company in front of 100’s of Uber riders. We are asking your potential customers information that is pertinent to your business.”

But Uber said it had nothing to do with the surveys. A company spokesperson told VentureBeat, “Uber is not affiliated with this company in any way, and we aren’t providing them any information about riders or drivers. We are continuing to look into this matter.”

PaintVoice told the Daily Dot that it planned on getting 20 Uber drivers to get their riders to answer “compelling questions pertaining to your business. We are going to ask the Uber riders to vote ‘for’ or ‘against’ a certain topic via mobile SMS short code.”

It’s not clear if any riders have encountered the surveys. The PaintVoice Craigslist ad appears to have disappeared.

Uber, of course, has faced questions about its credibility after a series of scandals over the last year. That may explain the particularly stern tone of its spokesperson’s response to questions about the PaintVoice survey.