Striking Uber drivers are protesting outside the company’s London HQ to demand an end to facial recognition software can fail to identify dark skinned drivers.
The 24-hour strike comes after The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) filed a claim for indirect racial discrimination on behalf of a Black driver and union member whose account was terminated following a facial recognition error.
Drivers are calling for a fair, transparent process for terminating accounts and also want better pay fololwing Uber’s recent decision to take higher commission.
The facial recognition algorithm used by Uber is five times more likely to fail to identify Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) drivers.
“Facial recognition failure is just one of the reasons hundreds of Uber’s majority-BAME drivers and couriers are terminated and lose their livelihoods without any due process or evidence of alleged wrongdoing” the IWGB said.
MPs and Black Lives Matter UK are supporting the strike, demanding Uber end the use of the facial recognition technology and reinstate drivers who have been unfairly dismissed.