Uber drivers concerned court case revealing too much personal information
Posted Nov 16, 2015 7:12 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A special session of council meets Monday where the hybrid proposal outlined last week which would allow Uber to operate legally in Calgary will be officially presented.
It would allow cab companies to set their own rates for people who use their service with a city-approved phone application, but keep the regulated rate for street hails and phone dispatch.
Uber would only be allowed to operate through its app.
It’s happening as the city takes dozens of Uber drivers to court in an attempt to get them off the roads because, for now at least, what they’re doing is still illegal.
Even that is creating controversy, with some drivers saying the city has released a lot of their personal information, putting them at risk to identity theft.
660 NEWS spoke with a driver who had been ticketed but didn’t want to be identified, saying he didn’t want any more problems.
He was shocked when he received a court package which listed all his personal information and the details of about 60 more drivers who had also been ticketed.
That included home addresses, phone numbers, personal descriptions, license plate numbers and driver’s license numbers – all the information an identity thief would need.
An official from the city familiar with the court proceedings said they had no choice but to list all that information because the city is seeking a court injunction against those drivers from using the app, and that all parties are entitled to see all the evidence which includes all the other driver’s information.
The lawyer representing the drivers asked the court to seal that information, and the city has agreed, but that’s little comfort for the drivers who have already had so many personal details shared.
