NYC seeks Uber/Lyft passenger GPS data

["David Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Joel Reidenberg" <reidenberg () sprynet com>
Subject: IP: NYC seeks Uber/Lyft passenger GPS data
Date: December 31, 2016 at 8:42:41 AM EST
To: <dave () farber net>
Reply-To: <reidenberg () outlook com>

Hi Dave,
I just heard about this new NYC proposal from the Taxi & Limousine Commission to require Uber and Lyft to provide 
electronic records for GPS locations of passenger pick-up and drop-offs to the city government:  
http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/downloads/pdf/proposed_rule_rev_driver_fatigue_1_5_17.pdf 
<http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/downloads/pdf/proposed_rule_rev_driver_fatigue_1_5_17.pdf>  .   Since the data patterns 
can readily be used to readily identifiable to particular individuals, this presents a real privacy threat.  The city's 
rationale is to have data that will enable the Commission to address “driver fatigue.”   This doesn't make any sense!  
GPS data does not measure drivers’ hours on the job.

Frankly, this program smells like a smokescreen to collect data for the NY Police Department and possibly federal 
surveillance programs while doing an end-run around subpoena and warrant requirements.    In fact, it seems more like a 
surreptitious extension of the controversial NYPD program that tracks EZ Pass users in NYC-- 
http://gothamist.com/2014/01/07/whats_the_government_doing_with_you.php 
<http://gothamist.com/2014/01/07/whats_the_government_doing_with_you.php> .
If this data collection were really designed to address driver fatigue, then the relevant data would be shift length 
(driver start/stop times, ride durations, possibly trip origination).  The proposal, however, hints at what seems to be 
the main purpose-- surveillance-- when it mentions “other enforcement actions” as a subsidiary rationale.  The examples 
for "other enforcement actions" and the data being collected make no sense.  For instance, the proposal says the GPS 
data “will facilitate investigating passenger complaints or complaints from a pedestrian or other motorist about unsafe 
driving, including for incidents alleged to have occurred during or between trips, by allowing TLC to determine the 
location of a vehicle at a particular time.”   The pick-up and drop-off locations will not work for this goal.   
Likewise, the proposal says “By understanding when for-hire trips to and from the airports occur TLC can better target 
resources to ensure that passengers are picked up at the airport only by drivers authorized to do so.”    This too is a 
strange justification to collect individual passenger records for every ride throughout the city!    This goal would be 
satisfied much more effectively by seeking aggregate drop-off data for the particular areas of concern to the TLC.
The city is holding a hearing on the proposal this coming Friday.

Joel


*************************************************************
Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Center on Law and Information Policy
Fordham University, School of Law 140 West 62nd Street, NY, NY 10023
Tel: 212-636-6843 (direct)  Email : <jreidenberg () law fordham edu <mailto:jreidenberg () law fordham edu>>
Internet: http://faculty.fordham.edu/reidenberg <http://faculty.fordham.edu/reidenberg>
CLIP: http://law.fordham.edu/clip <http://law.fordham.edu/clip>
Visiting Research Collaborator (2016/17), Center for Information Technology Policy
Visiting Lecturer (Spring 2017), Woodrow Wilson School
Princeton University
*************************************************************







-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/18849915-ae8fa580
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125
Unsubscribe Now: 
https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4&post_id=20161231085433:A63D17B0-CF60-11E6-8B61-A2E51067ACE8
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com