Taxi Driver Online

Uber users and drivers will be LOCKED OUT of the app unless they recommit to the company's community guidelines prohibiting racism, discrimination and sexual harassment

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech ... 0&ito=1490

Uber users in the UK will soon be locked out of the app unless they recommit to the firm's community guidelines, the ridesharing giant has revealed.

As of this week, Uber riders and drivers will be seeing alerts telling them to agree to the guidelines, which ban behaviours including racism and sexual harassment.

Users who do not recommit to the guidelines will eventually be unable to get online on the platform and effectively be 'locked out' of it.

Uber told MailOnline that nothing has actually changed in the community guidelines recently; the firm essentially wants to bring the guidelines to each user's attention by making them re-agree to them.

The guidelines prohibit behaviours such as racism, discrimination, fraud, sexual harassment, violence and much more.

Getting users – both riders and drivers – to re-agree to the guidelines will make trips 'safer and more respectful', Uber claims.

'At Uber, we believe that everyone has the right to move freely, no matter who they are, where they come from, or where they are going,' said Bex Xiao, head of community operations at Uber UK.

'We want every trip to be a respectful and positive experience for both riders and drivers, which is why we are asking everyone who uses our app to recommit to our community guidelines.'

How long users will have to agree with the guidelines again before they're locked out of Uber depends on how often they interact with the app, Uber said.

But on average, a rider will not be able to get online after one trip, unless they recommit.

Uber said the alerts will appear as a push notification or as a message in a Uber user's inbox.

Uber's community guidelines are lengthy, so users might have to set aside some time to read them properly before they agree to them.

They prohibit any forms of sexual harassment, including 'commenting on someone’s appearance' or asking about their relationship status.

There have already reportedly been thousands of sexual assault cases involving Uber riders and drivers.

As of December 2021, Uber checks in with riders if it detects suspicious behaviour from a driver.

If the app detects a driver taking unusual routes or making prolonged stops, it will send a message to both the rider and the driver 'to check if everything is OK'.

It will also check in with the rider and driver if a trip finishes in a location that isn't the rider's chosen destination.

A pop-up will automatically appear that gives the rider the chance to call for help – either by calling 999 or the Uber safety line.

In December 2020, the BBC reported that Uber had refused to report more than 1,200 alleged victims of sexual assault involving its drivers.

Uber users – either the driver or rider – are already able to flag that something is wrong on Uber using an Emergency Button, which is accessible by tapping the shield icon on their app's map screen during a trip.

Uber also recently introduced a feature where it checks in with riders if it detects suspicious behaviour from a driver, such as taking unusual routes.

Uber's community guidelines also prohibit any type of discrimination, which can be against someone based on traits such as age, colour, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, appearance, race and religion.

They also ban taking drugs or drinking alcohol, damaging property and committing any types of fraud.

Fraud can include drivers deliberately increasing the time or distance of a trip or delivery and creating fraudulent fees, like false cleaning fees.

Not adhering to any one of the guidelines means Uber users could be locked out of their account.

It's part of a continued effort to educate everyone in the Uber community' about anti-racism and a 'zero-tolerance discrimination policy'.

'Having respect and the importance of behaving respectfully toward one another cannot be understated,' Uber said.

Uber has stressed that it's not just drivers who are the perpetrators of assault. A recent high profile example is the murder of Uber driver Ali Asghar in Oldham last October.

Mr Asghar was beaten to death by two violent passengers when he asked them to stop eating chips in his vehicle. Last month, the attackers were sentenced to a collective total of 28 years in prison.

Uber, which is headquartered in San Francisco, is currently operating in the UK thanks to an 30-month licence extension granted by Transport for London (TfL) in March this year.

The ridesharing firm has had a torrid time getting approval from TfL to operate on a long-term basis.

TfL has previously cited passenger safety among the issues with the platform.

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IDFIMH

And the mere fact of pushing the agree button will suddenly transform those people into pillars of society.

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IDFIMH

kettle calls the pot black and says hey press this button and your suddenly white

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

And who will actually read them? Nobody, very probably, and like when you're about to use a new app or software, they'll just ignore the 10,000 words of conditions and tick the box anyway.

So to a degree all this is probably as much PR as anything substantive.

Some of the new app features are quite interesting, though. No doubt useful at times, for both drivers and passengers, but sort of reminds me why I wouldn't want to work for the big app providers.