A hidden consequence of the gig economy is that workers keep asking customers for sex or dates::“People have the right to order a pizza … without then being asked for sex or a date.”

  • @[email protected]
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    14611 months ago

    "People have the right to order a pizza … without then being asked for sex or a date.”

    I’ve seen plenty of documentary footage showing that arriving with a pizza often ends in an invitation to personally deliver the sausage.

  • @[email protected]
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    9311 months ago

    I’m confident it’s not 1 in 3 customers, rather “most customers who are also young women”. You should be able to order a pizza without being hit on, especially as they now have your contact details

    • radix
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      3511 months ago

      Considering it’s limited in scope to Brits between the ages of 18 and 34, one in three is actually conservative seeing as it’s less than the half of the population you would expect to be women by default.

      • @[email protected]
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        1210 months ago

        That makes sense to me.

        Everyone has a type, even sleazeballs that hit on people they’re delivering food to. They’re bound to find some women that don’t appeal to them.

    • @[email protected]
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      2410 months ago

      You should also be able to deliver a pizza without being hit on. I’m a dad side-hustling to take care of my family. I don’t need women answering the door topless and making “do I get extra sausage” jokes. And I also don’t need old ladies hitting on me when I bring their heavy groceries to the door for a Safeway delivery.

      Whether someone is the deliverer or the deliveree, just get the transaction done and move on with your day. No harassment needed.

      • @[email protected]
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        510 months ago

        Agreed - though does the topless thing happen a lot in Oregon? Just asking for a friend

        • @[email protected]
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          1210 months ago

          90% of my deliveries are “leave at door”. 5-6% of the “hand it to me” orders are normal and friendly encounters. The other “hand it to me” orders are always weirdos. “Want some weed”, “come in and drink with us”, topless women (who are usually drunk or high themselves), hoarder houses with cats spilling out the door… It’s not weekly, but it’s more than once a month that someone comes to the door in less than a fully clothed state.

  • @[email protected]
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    11 months ago

    Would it be any different with normal delivery drivers? The issue here is lack of reporting or enforcement. There are good reasons to bash the gig economy, but this one’s just riding the wave for the clicks

    • ✨Abigail Watson✨
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      10 months ago

      If an employee delivering pizza harassed me, they would be fired. They couldn’t be hired at that same pizza place again - they’d have a blacklisted ssn.

      If a gig work worker harassed me, they could easily resign up using someone else’s info. In fact, that’s a common method for harassing women - they sign up with a fake woman’s profile so you let your guard down.

      • @[email protected]
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        710 months ago

        Isn’t that pretty much the definition of lack of enforcement? Any customer could report if the driver is using a different ID, then it’s up to the platform to kill the account.

        • @[email protected]
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          310 months ago

          That’s one of the big issues with all these Gig companies. There’s little to no oversight. They offload as much responsibility as they can by lying that “this is not really our employee but a self-employed contractor”

    • @[email protected]
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      510 months ago

      There doesn’t seem to be any data that they based this conclusion on, but I certainly find it somewhat plausible. High turnover and a disconnect between employer and employee may drive the lack of reporting and enforcement you point out. It may also reduce the perceived risk, like your colleagues finding out you are a creep, or being fired.

  • @[email protected]
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    2210 months ago

    Leave it at the door is the default option for all my services I use. Have literally never spoken to the a gig worker before, during or after delivering something for me.

  • @[email protected]
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    1610 months ago

    What is “asking for sex?” I know it sounds dumb but is this a thing people really do? How do they say it? “Hey any chance I could have some sex?” “Spare any sex?” “Here’s your food want to fuck?”

    And does anyone ever say yes???

    • 🇰 🔵 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️
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      10 months ago

      “Oh dear! I seem to have misplaced my wallet. Is there… Some other way I could pay?”

      Only it’s a weird and creepy (possibly ugly even) dude saying it to a young woman who just wants to pay her rent and is delivering for DoorDash on the side.

    • @[email protected]
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      310 months ago

      if you’re a girl, you’ll get freaks approach you eventually if you see enough people who will passively say awful things to you, ask for sex, get stalked,etc

      • @[email protected]
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        110 months ago

        I’m a man so I have no idea. But I have heard some stories. It must be gross.

        What words do people use to “ask for sex?” I have some idea what flirting is. I have some idea what hitting on someone is. I don’t know what it actually looks like to “ask for sex.”

  • AutoTL;DRB
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    911 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Almost 1 in 3 Brits between 18 and 34 years old have received unwanted contact from delivery drivers or other workers asking them out on dates or for sex, the UK’s data watchdog has warned.

    “People have the right to order a pizza, or give their email for a receipt, or have shopping delivered, without then being asked for sex or a date a little while later,” said Emily Keaney, a deputy commissioner at the ICO.

    In June, a female Etihad Airways passenger told The Guardian how she felt unsafe after a worker contracted by the airline found her phone number in the company system then sent her unsolicited text messages.

    A growing number of firms, particularly in delivery, transport, or logistics, rely on gig economy or contract workers.

    Its survey found that two-thirds of the UK public believe it isn’t morally right to use personal details given for business purposes for romantic or sexual propositions.

    The regulator said it’s cracking down on such occurrences, asking victims to come forward, and reaching out to companies to remind them of their data protection responsibilities.


    The original article contains 391 words, the summary contains 183 words. Saved 53%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

    • @[email protected]
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      10 months ago

      Lol, do you even need it? The headline speaks volumes.🤣

      Almost 1 in 3 Brits between 18 and 34 years old have received unwanted contact from delivery drivers or other workers asking them out on dates or for sex, the UK’s data watchdog has warned.

      The survey of over 2,000 British adults carried out for the Information Commissioner’s Office found that, in total, 17% of people have had their personal information used for a romantic or sexual proposition after handing it over to a business.

      That figure rises to 33% in London, where such incidents are most common.

      “People have the right to order a pizza, or give their email for a receipt, or have shopping delivered, without then being asked for sex or a date a little while later,” said Emily Keaney, a deputy commissioner at the ICO.

      “Our research today shows a disturbingly high number of people, particularly young people, are falling prey to these text pests,” she added.

      In June, a female Etihad Airways passenger told The Guardian how she felt unsafe after a worker contracted by the airline found her phone number in the company system then sent her unsolicited text messages.

      “There may be, amongst some, an outdated notion that to use someone’s personal details given to you in a business context to ask them out is romantic or charming,” Keaney said. “Put quite simply, it is not – it is against the law.”

      A growing number of firms, particularly in delivery, transport, or logistics, rely on gig economy or contract workers. These workers are not entitled to the same employment rights as full-time workers, the jobs can be precarious and badly paid, and turnover is often high. One consequence is that sensitive customer information, such as phone numbers and addresses, is accessible to casual workers.

      The ICO did not explicitly name any companies, but pointed to “major businesses” operating in food and parcel delivery.

      Its survey found that two-thirds of the UK public believe it isn’t morally right to use personal details given for business purposes for romantic or sexual propositions.

      The regulator said it’s cracking down on such occurrences, asking victims to come forward, and reaching out to companies to remind them of their data protection responsibilities.

      If a company is found not to be following data-protection laws, it can be fined up to £17.5 million ($22.1 million) or 4% of its global turnover

    • @[email protected]
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      3110 months ago

      Gig economy means a bunch of randos get your contact information instead of long term employees who receive proper training and management.

      • @[email protected]
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        11 months ago

        Are you saying that traditional food delivery drivers get trained specifically not to hit on people when they deliver food? I don’t have any data but I feel like that’s not really a thing. Maybe my concept of the training a food delivery driver gets is way off the mark?

        I’m also pretty sure that it’s easier to give a bad review that others will see via one of these food delivery apps than it is if you go directly to the business.

        I think we all agree that this is inappropriate and should not be happening, I just don’t see how it doesn’t apply at least equally to traditional delivery drivers.

        • @[email protected]
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          310 months ago

          I think the issue may have been less prevelant with traditional delivery drivers because there was less delivery going on before delivery apps took off. You’re also making the assumption that anything is done about gig workers someone complains about or gives a low rating too, it seems unlikely that these apps are doing background checks and other things traditional delivery drivers may have been subjected too.

          • @[email protected]
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            110 months ago

            There were no background checks at any of the pizza places I delivered for. Two of them didn’t even have interviews.

            For one of them my buddy’s starter died while we were picking up pizza and the driver helped out by giving us a ride home and mentioned he was looking for someone to cover for him while he was on vacation and I offered, then just had to show up the first day of his vacation.

            For the other one, I had asked if they were looking for a driver, they had said no but then later that week one of the drivers shows up at my door to ask if I still wanted the job (I was a regular so he knew where I lived). Once again, I just showed up the first day and started delivering.

          • @[email protected]
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            110 months ago

            Hey, I was up front about my data (or lack thereof) and we’re not talking about climate change or string theory, we’re talking about fast food delivery driver’s onboarding.

            “The Internet” would just state it like a fact.

  • @[email protected]
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    310 months ago

    Not just sitting on them for text pests, have you experienced their scooter riding lately. I nearly clapped one today cutting in front of me on a roundabout…

  • Altima NEO
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    210 months ago

    I think the last thing anyone wants is some broke ass gig worker hitting on them.

    • @[email protected]
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      -1510 months ago

      Well that’s pleasant and shows how spoiled you are.

      Literally could be a college student working and studying, or an immigrant that came through a fucked up jorney just so he could send money back home.

      I can say that they aren’t as spoiled little s like you

      • @[email protected]
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        1310 months ago

        It’s not spoiled to not want to be harassed by someone you’re paying for a service. It is however spoiled to expect it’s ok to treat a job as a dating service.

        • @[email protected]
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          -1410 months ago

          Shut tf up dude. I agree to that and did not say otherwise, I answered to his gold-digger bullshit

          • @[email protected]
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            -110 months ago

            Well that’s pleasant and shows how spoiled you are

            Literally could be a college student working and studying, or an immigrant that came through a fucked up jorney just so he could send money back home.

            I can say that they aren’t as spoiled little s like you

            You should re-read what you wrote, because literally nowhere does it say that you agree that gig workers shouldn’t be hitting on or propositioning their customers.

            • @[email protected]
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              610 months ago

              But he didn’t disagree with that point, so to assume he meant to disagree is a quite the jump in logic. All I see from his reply was to criticise the blanket calling of all gig workers as broke, which is an elitist point of view towards workers of that industry.

              • @[email protected]
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                210 months ago

                Hmm, that’s fair, I guess my interpretation of what he said was colored by how he said it.

      • Altima NEO
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        -310 months ago

        Yeah I don’t know about that, boss. I’ve been working since I was 16. Needed to support myself because my parents sure wouldn’t.

        But I also made an attempt to take union jobs that give me benefits like health insurance and retirement.

        Gig workers are fucked. They don’t get benefits. They don’t even get treated like employees. They don’t have a union. The only real money they’re earning is mostly from tips. It’s a shitty job that exploits people desperate to make some money.