Ride-sharing service Uber reported Tuesday that it is investigating one of its top executives for tracking a BuzzFeed News reporter without her knowledge or permission -- an outright violation of the transit company's privacy policy.

Uber also published said privacy policy publicly for the first time on Tuesday and claims these agreements have always been in effect.

Both actions taken were in the wake of a breaking BuzzFeed News story that revealed a reporter's discovery of her ride being tracked by an Uber executive without her permission.

This followed a report by BuzzFeed quoting another executive saying the company should smear journalists that criticize Uber publicly. The latter executive, Emil Michael, said his comments were "wrong" and regrets saying them.

However, the other executive was likely able to find this ride information through an internal company tool named "God View." It is capable of seeing where Uber vehicles and their customers are traveling, according to two former Uber employees.

One of the reporters for BuzzFeed, Johana Bhuiyan, interviewed Uber's New York general manager, Josh Mohrer, in early November. When she arrived to the company's headquarters, Mohrer was waiting for her and told her, "there you are," theld out his iPhone and said, "I was tracking you."

Bhuiyan said she never gave Mohrer permission to track her, nor did he ask. Information about Bhuiyan's ride logs were also sent to her from Mohrer two months earlier, after the reporter had asked Uber about ride-share competitor Lyft.

Uber said this kind of data use is only allowed for legitimate business purposes and any violations could result in termination, legal or other disciplinary actions. The company said it is investigating Mohrer's actions in tracking Bhuiyan and her past information.

Mohrer tweeted, then quickly deleted: "Shake it off @Uber-NYC style. #HatersGonnaHate," showing the employees seemingly dancing around the office.

A venture capitalist, Peter Sims, wrote about being tracked in a similar situation on his blog in September. He said in 2011, he was riding in a Manhattan Uber car when a woman he barely knew began texting him about his exact location. When he asked how she knew this information, she said she was attending an Uber launch party in Chicago and Sims' movements were on display in God View on a large screen.

"After learning this, I expressed my outrage to her that the company would use my information and identity to promote its services without my permission," Sims wrote. "She told me to calm down, and that it was all a 'cool' event and as if I should be honored to have been one of the chosen."

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