Uber has geofenced Apple headquarters in Cupertino, changing its code so that it would be hidden from employees of the tech company. Apple reportedly discovered the move, which led to the meeting between the two CEOs, in which Tim Cook told Travis Kalanick to end the practice.

Uber Technologies Inc. has a long history of violating government regulations, but it was its violation of a rule by Apple Inc. that almost sank its business. The practice, called fingerprinting, is prohibited by Apple. However, Uber bent the rules.

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According to the New York Times, the CEO of Apple warned Uber that it will be removing the app from the App Store in 2015 after learning that the ride-sharing company secretly had found a way to identify individual iPhones even if the app has been deleted from the phone.

Apple's problem with Uber started in 2014 when Uber drivers in China tried to game the system to make it look like they were getting more riders - and thus, entitled to more money. Drivers would buy iPhones on the black market, wipe their memory and create new "customer" accounts, then repeat the process.

On Sunday, Uber defended the practice, calling its tracking as a common industry anti-fraud technique. Uber said that it does not track individual users or their location if they have deleted the app, says The Verge.

As the New York Times story notes towards the very end, this is a typical way to prevent fraudsters from loading Uber onto a stolen phone, putting in a stolen credit card, taking an expensive ride and then wiping the phone - over and over again. Similar techniques are also used for detecting and blocking suspicious logins to protect our users' accounts. Being able to recognize known bad actors when they try to get back onto our network is an important security measure for both Uber and our users.