After the Uber saga, drivers have until the end of the month to accept or decline the transport company’s offer. Some are working on scavenging years of data to see if Uber’s deal holds up. A real obstacle course, as Le Courrier wrote. A permanence helps them collect and analyze this information.
Paul-Olivier Dehaye accompanies and advises Uber drivers: they can ask the company for their personal data in the name of the GDPR, the general data protection regulation: “Uber cannot refuse without exposing itself to considerable fines due to the GDPR. So it’s no longer just a polite request, it’s really a legal requirement. And from there we can calculate a lot of things: working hours based on different states, whether the driver is waiting, in a hurry or approaching a customer. And then it also calculates the kilometers, which can be relevant for estimating driver costs,” explains the mathematician.
An estimate five times higher than that of Uber
The goal: to verify that the sum proposed by Uber corresponds to the work performed. The company calculated wage and expense allowances based on mileage. He made a quantified proposition to each one. But with some drivers, the data specialist comes up with an estimate five times higher than the offer made by the multinational. Upon permanence, many feel overwhelmed and are considering an employment tribunal procedure. Time is running out for drivers: they have until January 31 to decide whether or not to accept Uber’s offer. They have several options: “They can accept the offer if it suits them. They can contact the OCIRT if they have any concerns about the figures they have received from Uber and rectify them. If that doesn’t work, they can go to the prud’hommes. The procedure is very long and will be contested by Uber», explains Helena Verissimo de Freitas, regional deputy secretary of Unia Geneva.
Data to inform the digital economy
Beyond the Uber case, Paul-Olivier Dehaye wishes to campaign for a better use of digital data: “We hope that our approaches activate other civil society actors, because this data recovery is a new methodology that sheds light on the digital economy around personal data” defends the data specialist.
The service is free for motorists: Digipower Academy has received funding from the Migros Pioneer Fund.