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She was chatting with friends in a Lyft. Then someone texted her what they said

www.cbc.ca /news/canada/toronto/lyft-conversation-transcribed-1.7508106

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28209968

Anvi Ahuja received a text message transcript of her conversation with her roommates during their Lyft ride home on March 11.

The company confirms the incident took place, but has offered varying explanations.

After CBC Toronto contacted Lyft about this story last week, a Lyft representative called Ahuja. She says they told her the company is running a pilot program where audio is recorded from some rides and then the transcript is supposed to be sent to the ride-sharing company for reference if a security issue is reported.

In a statement to CBC, a Lyft spokesperson acknowledged that the ride-sharing company has an in-app audio recording pilot in select U.S. markets with "strict opt-in protocols" but said this incident is not related to that pilot program or any other feature being tested by Lyft.

17 comments

  • Canada has single-party consent laws when it comes to audio recording.

    I hate this use and that I'm arguing devils advocate here, but legally speaking; If the driver opted-in to the program, audio in the vehicle can legally be recorded because the driver is considered a party to the conversion that's happening within their vehicle (even without actively participating in that conversion). They can record and distribute that recording however they like (including to lyft to be transcribed).

    Lyft wouldn't be able to record vehicle audio without the consent of the driver at the minimum; but they aren't necessarily required to gain consent or even inform the other passengers. As shitty as that is.

    Don't treat your driver like they don't exist and keep private conversations for when your actually in private. Even a regular cab driver could be privately recording you; regardless of 'company policy'.

    Another way to think of this is: You can record the audio in your immediate vicinity (ie, anything you can naturally hear) without having to gain consent from or inform everyone around you. Same concept.

17 comments