"Managed by Bots: Data-Driven Exploitation in the Gig Economy", 13 December 2021

Employment in the so-called gig economy has boomed in recent years with the TUC reporting that 4.4 million people in the UK now work in the sector at least once per week…

The sector has been an employment rights battle ground as platforms sought to misclassify workers as independent contractors so as to avoid employer obligations, as well as tax and national insurance contributions… At the same time, our report shows that drivers are surveilled and subjected to algorithmic control even during this waiting time...

…Data protection law offers tools to protect the rights of individuals, however, there has not yet been adequate legal protection for digital rights at work, for individuals or the collective as represented by their trade unions… We have processed more than 500 subject access requests over the last eight months on behalf of workers at Amazon Flex, Bolt, Deliveroo, Free Now, Just Eat, Ola and Uber…

In the UK, [the government’s proposals on GDPR] would give employers more discretion in how or whether to respond to data access requests and to charge a fee for doing so... Given the threats to and shortcomings in GDPR implementation, many jurisdictions, such as the EU as well as some US states, are currently considering greater employment rights protections for gig workers that address the issues arising from algorithmic management. In the UK, the TUC have published an AI Manifesto, proposing a series of amendments to employment and data protection law to promote greater transparency and equality in digitally mediated work…