Comment on Uber is letting women avoid male drivers and riders in the US

• Knightfox@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  I mean, as a company whose business is pairing riders with drivers, it begs the questions why this isn’t already an option so long as drivers can also choose not to drive for people flagged as a certain way. If a MAGA person only wants white people driving for them then that will reduce the effectiveness of the app for them, provides service for someone who otherwise would be difficult as a customer, and it prevents them from harassing or bothering potential victims.

  If I want to, as a driver or rider, I think I should be able to choose not to be driven by someone who has been flagged by others as overly visible. That might mean someone who won’t shut up about MAGA while I or they driver, it might be someone who has 15 bumper stickers about their beliefs, or it might be someone who has their car wrapped with Hatsune Miku. The consequence of this decision might mean that I have to wait an extra 15 min for a ride or it might mean that because of my actions people no longer wish to ride with me.

  Yes, I think that’s a good idea.

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  • Objection@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

    So you disagree with the Civil Rights Act then? Because one of the things it did was force businesses to serve customers, regardless of things like race or sex. And before we had it, there where large parts of the South where black people would be refused service, and if someone did serve them, they’d lose a bunch of white customers.

    That’s the very good reason why it’s “not already an option.”

    Neither drivers nor Uber have the right, or should have the right, to refuse service based on categories protected in the Civil Rights Act.

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    • Knightfox@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

      But that’s not how Uber works, Uber pairs drivers with riders and has no guarantee for service even now. If I open my app and there are not drivers available then no service will be provided, this isn’t Uber discriminating.

      Uber doesn’t care what your race, gender, or political leaning is, they want to provide you the service you want. So long as the option goes both ways this only hurts the people who opt into the program, not everyone else. The only way this could hurt others would be if those who choose to opt in (as in they only want a certain thing) get priority in the scheduling or if you live somewhere where you are the overwhelming minority.

      In the first example, if you say you only want female riders so the system sends you every woman that comes into the system instead of putting you in the same queue as everyone else but skipping you if the next client doesn’t match your preference. In this case you are being skipped in the allocation of riders and actually missing opportunities due to your preference.

      In the second example, if you are one of the 10 black people still living in a sun down town then getting Uber rides is probably not your biggest problem.

      Even now, Uber drivers are independent contractors and can cancel service whenever they want. If the driver pulls up and thinks you’re sketchy they can cancel the ride, there is no obligation.

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      • Objection@lemmy.ml ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        So long as the option goes both ways this only hurts the people who opt into the program, not everyone else. The only way this could hurt others would be if those who choose to opt in (as in they only want a certain thing) get priority in the scheduling or if you live somewhere where you are the overwhelming minority.

        So the only way it could hurt anyone is if they’re a minority. Yes, that’s exactly why we have the Civil Rights Act and why what you’re suggesting is illegal.

        In the second example, if you are still living in a sun down town then getting Uber rides is probably not your biggest problem.

        Next you’re going to tell me that black people in racist towns should just eat at home if restaurants don’t want to serve them. And if the bus driver makes you sit at the back of the bus, just drive a car.

        Even now, Uber drivers are independent contractors

        This is a bullshit legal category that exists primarily to exploit loopholes, but even that does not give anyone the right to discriminate and violate the Civil Rights Act.

        If the driver pulls up and thinks you’re sketchy they can cancel the ride, there is no obligation.

        Strictly speaking, if a driver cancelled every ride that a black person booked, they could be sued for it, although such a suit would be very difficult in practice because you’d have to have enough records of that driver (or the company, if that was the target of the suit) to show a consistent bias.

        This is the case in every business. Denial of service based on protected classes is illegal.

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      • frog_brawler@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

        Uber doesn’t care what your race, gender, or political leaning is

        Yes, they specifically do. They need to know the riders’ gender in order for pairing to work.

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