<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/05/ex-uber-driver-takes-lega...> An Uber <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/uber> driver who lost his job when automated face-scanning software failed to recognise him is accusing the firm of indirect race discrimination in a legal test case. The black driver, who worked on the Uber platform from 2016 until April 2021, has filed an employment tribunal claim alleging his account was illegally deactivated when facial-verification software used to log drivers on to the ride-hailing app decided he was not who he said he was. The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which is backing the action, claimed at least 35 other drivers had had their registration with Uber terminated as a result of alleged mistakes with the software since the start of the pandemic. It is calling for Uber to scrap the “racist algorithm” and reinstate terminated drivers. Uber said it “strongly refutes the completely unfounded claims” and that it was “committed to fighting racism and being a champion for equality – both inside and outside our company”. The firm said the checks were “designed to protect the safety and security of everyone who uses the app by ensuring the correct driver is using their account”. Drivers can choose human verification of their picture, and when technology is chosen “there is always a minimum of two human expert reviews prior to any decision to remove a driver”, she said. Uber has used the software <https://www.uber.com/en-GB/blog/real-time-id-check-uk-drivers/> since April 2020. In 2019 Microsoft, which makes the software, conceded <https://www.itv.com/news/2019-01-23/microsoft-warns-about-dangers-posed-by-m...> facial recognition software did not work as well for people of colour and could fail to recognise them. Studies of several facial recognition software packages <https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/actionable-auditing-investigating-the...> have shown that error rates when recognising people with darker skin have been higher than among lighter-skinned people, although Microsoft and others have been improving performance. Uber said its software did not rely on scanning large numbers of faces, which had been blamed for introducing error. Rather it verified an already uploaded picture of the driver against their freshly submitted selfie. [...]