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July 21, 2020 10:00 am

Uber Drivers To Launch Legal Bid To Uncover App's Algorithm

AmiMoJo shares a report from The Guardian: Minicab drivers will launch a legal bid to uncover secret computer algorithms used by Uber to manage their work in a test case that could increase transparency for millions of gig economy workers across Europe. Two UK drivers are demanding to see the huge amounts of data the ride-sharing company collects on them and how this is used to exert management control, including through automated decision-making that invisibly shapes their jobs. The case is being brought on Monday by the UK-based App Drivers and Couriers Union in the district court in Amsterdam, where the international headquarters of the $56 billion ride-hailing firm is located. The union said transparency was essential in checking if Uber was exercising discrimination or unequal treatment between drivers. It will also allow drivers to organize and build collective bargaining power over terms of work and pay in a way that is currently impossible. The claim says Uber uses tags on drivers' profiles, for example "inappropriate behavior" or simply "police tag." Reports relate to "navigation -- late arrival / missed ETA" and "professionalism -- cancelled on rider, inappropriate behavior, attitude." The drivers complain they were not being provided with this data or information on the underlying logic of how it was used. They want to how that processing affects them, including on their driver score. The union members Azeem Hanif and Alfie Wellcoat claim Uber has failed to fulfill its obligations in its response to their requests under general data protection regulations (GDPR). They want to see their detailed driver profiles, comments about them made by Uber staff and how more than two dozen categories of data gathered about them are processed, legal papers show. A spokesperson for Uber said: "Our privacy team works hard to provide any requested personal data that individuals are entitled to. We will give explanations when we cannot provide certain data, such as when it doesn't exist or disclosing it would infringe on the rights of another person under GDPR. Under the law, individuals have the right to escalate their concerns by contacting Uber's data protection officer or their national data protection authority for additional review."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.


Original Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/7HE531Ne15A/uber-drivers-to-launch-legal-bid-to-uncover-apps-algorithm

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