A pilot for recording conversation during Lyft rides is going on in some U.S. cities, but it’s not supposed to be happening in Canada. A Toronto woman was sent the conversation between her and her friends during a ride, presumably accidentally.

  • enkers@sh.itjust.works
    37·
    5 days ago

    So let me get this straight, they want us to believe the driver recorded their conversation, sent it to a transcription service, then texted it to them? And that their rep also lied about there being a pilot program?

    Uh huh. What would either of their motives be?

    • wise_pancake@lemmy.ca
      18·
      5 days ago

      If the company recorded without consent of the drivers or passengers then its illegal in Canada (could be just Ontario though)

      If they blame the driver then there’s no crime as we are one party consent.

      But why would the driver text it to them?

      • Leeny@lemmy.ca
        7·
        5 days ago

        I don’t think one party consent even applies if the driver was not part of the conversation. It says it was between the woman and her friends if I’m understanding correctly.

        • Scratch@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          7·
          5 days ago

          They didn’t have the presumption of privacy from the driver. Driver was clearly visible to them, make himself known to them and was clearly within earshot.

          They might have also agreed to being recorded in some slimy Terms and Conditions in the ride share app.

            • Scratch@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              2·
              5 days ago

              We get into the grey here, because the passengers probably didn’t include the driver as a participant. You have to be a participant for one-party to hold.

              Also, if the conversation was recorded automatically, with no action from the driver, does that count as the driver recording the convo, or the company that controls the recording device?

              • Dearche@lemmy.ca
                2·
                4 days ago

                But it’s hard to argue that the driver isn’t a participant considering that they’d be within touching distance and in no way blocked off from the conversation. Even without actually saying anything, the driver was a passive particapant, or at least it would be argued that way if it ever went to court.

                Since only one side needs to give permission to record, and since that permission likely can be taken in the EULA, no matter how scummy it is, this most likely isn’t illegal. It’s like claiming that a a porch camera can’t record a crime because the camera’s owner wasn’t a direct participant of the crime.

                • Scratch@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                  1·
                  4 days ago

                  I ain’t no law-talking guy.

                  Someone could make the argument that because the driver was a hired professional they shouldn’t be party of the conversations of their clients or some such.

                  As I said, grey area.

    • BCsven@lemmy.ca
      3·
      4 days ago

      Is anyone really surprised, UBER asks for microphone access as a security feature, so you can click record if the driver or passenger feels unsafe. Seems like an extension of this service that maybe wasn’t supposed to be directly shared unless am incident happened