Techbrodudes reinvent something that's been around for ages, only making it worse.
You know, public transit has been around for AGES before you got your grubby little rent-seeking mitts on it and tore it down, you festering horde of goblins!
#Uber#RideHailing#GigEconomy#BigTech#Lobbying#SiliconValley: "Meanwhile, Uber has a long record of using deceptive actions to avoid regulatory oversight, most notably through a program called Greyball. In Boston, Las Vegas, and a host of European cities, it deployed a mock version of its app on the phones of unfriendly city officials to make it falsely appear that the service was not available. In some cities, it investigated passengers’ credit card accounts to help determine if they were government officials.
Where state legislatures or courts do not deliver for Uber, it turns to the ballot box. In 2019 California passed a law making companies responsible for proving that their workers were independent contractors, which opened the door to reclassifying them as employees. Uber and other gig economy companies responded by pouring $220 million into a ballot initiative, Proposition 22, which it billed as a defense of drivers’ rights. “Protecting the ability of Californians to work as independent contractors throughout the state using app-based rideshare and delivery platforms,” it stressed, “is necessary so people can continue to choose which jobs they take, to work as often or as little as they like, and to work with multiple platforms or companies.” In fact the proposition would exempt app-based workers from nearly all labor protections, including paid sick leave, retirement benefits, and workers compensation. It passed, though a group of drivers have contested its legality in the California Supreme Court. Its success is still a troubling sign of Uber’s political clout. In Massachusetts, Uber, Instacart, and Lyft raised $43 million in 2022—and $7 million so far this year—for copycat ballot initiatives."
Google's passkeys, introduced in 2022, have become a popular and secure alternative to traditional passwords, being used over 1 billion times across 400 million-plus Google accounts. These passkeys, which rely on fingerprints, face scans, or PINs for authentication, are faster and more resistant to phishing than passwords. Google plans to integrate passkeys into its Advanced Protection Program, enhancing security for high-risk users. Additionally, third-party password managers like Dashlane and 1Password can now support passkeys, further expanding their use. The technology is supported by major companies like eBay, Uber, PayPal, and Amazon, indicating a shift towards passkey-based authentication as a more secure and efficient method.