Delivery apps urged to lift lid on ‘black-box algorithms’ affecting UK couriers
Takeaway delivery apps are facing pressure to crack open the black-box algorithms that govern the work of more than 100,000 couriers in the UK and reveal more about how decisions are made on pay and access to jobs.
A coalition including the TUC, Amnesty International, couriers’ unions and the campaign group Privacy International claim the opaque use of algorithms is “automating exploitation”. They say withholding vital information from couriers about their work is “creating precarity, stress, and misery”.
The call for greater openness targets UberEats, Deliveroo and JustEat – the UK and Ireland’s three dominant platforms in takeaway delivery with a combined annual turnover of almost £9bn….
A spokesperson for the company said its website carried information for riders about how the algorithm offers orders and calculates fees, receives information when they sign up and can raise questions with support staff who can escalate them to data protection officers…
Just Eat said its couriers earned more than the London living wage “for the time they are on an order”. A spokesperson said: “We maintain an open dialogue with our courier partners through regular communications, including face-to-face events across the country called StreetMeets, where we invite and share feedback on issues that are important to them.”
Uber was approached for comment.