A Missouri driver is suspended from ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft after it was discovered he live-streamed hundreds of passengers sitting in the back of his car on the popular website Twitch. There, anonymous commenters critiqued the appearances and parenting skills of the riders, according to reporting by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Jason Gargac shared video feed of everyone from children and college students to public figures like Jerry Cantrell, the lead guitarist of Alice in Chains. His actions raise questions about ethics and privacy while riding in one of the cars.
One passenger who wished to remain anonymous told the Post-Dispatch, “I feel violated. I’m embarrassed.”
“We got in an Uber at 2 a.m. to be safe,” said the passenger, “and then I find out that because of that, everything I said in that car is online and people are watching me. It makes me sick.”
While Lyft deactivated Gargac’s access, Uber was slower to react, saying initially: “Driver partners are responsible for complying with the law when providing trips, including privacy laws…recording passengers without their consent is illegal in some states, but not Missouri.”
In a new statement, following the publication of the Post-Dispatch’s story, they said: “The troubling behavior in the videos is not in line with our Community Guidelines…the driver’s access to the app has been removed while we evaluate his partnership with Uber.”
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