In 2019, Uber Eats driver Pa Edrissa Manjang joined the app and did not have to regularly send selfies to register for jobs. However, in 2021, the app started increasing verification checks which led to his account being removed due to “continued mismatches.”
Uber stated that the real-time ID check was meant to ensure safety for all app users and that decisions were made with oversight to avoid impacting someone’s livelihood unjustly. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the App Drivers and Couriers Union supported Mr Manjang’s case, expressing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on his income and labelling the excessive selfie requests as racial harassment.
After an out-of-court settlement, Mr Manjang was reinstated and is now working in Oxfordshire. He viewed the settlement as the end of a challenging period and hoped it would contribute to strengthening rights and protections for ethnic minorities in relation to AI.
Baroness Falkner, chair of the EHRC, emphasized Mr Manjang’s right to understand the opaque processes that affected his work without having to resort to legal action. She highlighted previous cases where ethnicity impacted technology use, including in law enforcement, government offices, and educational institutions. These instances underscored the need for greater transparency and accountability in the application of AI technologies.
