Uber is the beset with another scandal after a Surry Hills woman suspected the driver may have been recording her conversation covertly.
This comes after Karl Stefanovic and his brother, fellow Nine Network star, Peter, recently publicly apologised to their colleagues and employers after a private conversation of the pair talking in an Uber car was made public.
Is it legal for an Uber driver to record your conversations? The publication of embarrassing details of a private phone call between Today host Karl Stefanovic, his brother Peter Stefanovic and Peter’s wife, Today newsreader Sylvia Jeffreys, may raise red flags for many users of the ride-sharing service.
After initial reports he was shopping around an audiotape, which captured the couple in the back seat talking to Karl on speakerphone, the driver later strenuously denied the existence of any audio recording, instead selling the contents of his incredibly accurate memory to New Idea for $50,000.
That’s because, if such a recording did exist — and we are not suggesting it does — the driver could be in a lot of trouble.
“There’s potential civil liability for breach of privacy from individuals, and potential penalty for federal or state-based breaches [of privacy laws] with potential criminal sanctions,” said Will Barsby, national special counsel of consumer law at Shine Lawyers.
The Surry Hills woman said, “I kind of felt that the driver was acting a bit funny maybe eavesdropping slightly tilting his head towards me so he could hear what I was saying he just gave me an odd energy. Finally I asked him flat out ‘are you recording me?’ and he strongly denied it but I still suspect something was up, so I took a photo on my phone.”
The woman went on to confirm that the conversation could have dire consequences as she spoke at length of a colleague who seemed ambivalent to taking a stand on various work related issues such as the state of the kitchen after a work party and the policy of who should clean it up.
“If my conversation did get out I feel confident Marcy from Finance would crack the shits big time,” said the woman nervously.
This comes in rumours that the ride sharing giant has installed recording equipment in all Uber vehicles as an optional way for drivers to supplement their income with Uber taking a 20% share.
This has led to a wave of protests from uber drivers who feel they’re taking the majority of the risk in illegally recording phone conversations and should therefore receive 100% of income generated from the sale of said conversations.
