Uber Driver Is Suspended For Posting Videos Of His Passengers Without Their Consent

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

An Uber and Lyft driver from Saint Louis, Missouri was suspended after a report surfaced denouncing the videos the driver recorded of his passengers without his consent.

Faces, full names, private conversations, intimate moments and even images of the residences that the driver, identified as Jason Gargac, filmed with cameras adapted to his car were broadcast live on the Twitch platform, a service commonly used to broadcast video games, as reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The publication indicates that passengers who noticed the cameras in the car - and gave their consent to be recorded - were previously warned that the cameras were for their safety.

Meanwhile, an audience on Twitch would comment on his appearances and conversations. But despite ethical issues regarding passenger privacy, what the driver was doing is completely legal under Missouri state law, as it is considered a "one-party consent" state, which only requires one of the participants in a conversation to know that a recording is taking place in order to be legal.

Regardless, the report has attracted enough attention for both co-ops to disable driver accounts.

In a statement, an Uber spokesperson said the "troubling behavior in the videos" violated its community guidelines, and that "driver access to the app has been removed while evaluating its association with Uber."

Alexandra LaManna, a spokesperson for Lyft, said: "The safety and comfort of the Lyft community is our top priority, and we have disabled this driver."

Gargac gave an interview to the St. Louis newspaper, in which he said the cameras were there for his own safety. He said that the livestream was "secondary", and the cameras were for the "security that I am sorry to know if something happens, there may be an immediate response to the hope that you will find my truck in a ditch three weeks later".

On the Twitch platform, some viewers paid Gargac a monthly subscription fee, while others donated money or gave advice, according to the post. Gargac also earned around $ 3,500 from subscribers who paid to watch his videos.