Not trying to “cloud the issue at hand” at all… in fact looking around, Mumbrella is now asking the same thing I am:
Who among us hasn’t vented about work at one time or another? However, the stakes are just much higher and your expectation of privacy much lower if your last name is Stefanovic. The idea of personal and professional insecurities being out in the public domain to be scrutinised by the masses is, in particular, the stuff of nightmares for many Australians.
This doesn’t absolve them of wrong-doing and the statement acknowledged their own “stupidity” in the situation before offering apologies “as they were raised to do”. However, overall the apology allows readers to identify with the brothers experience.
Given it’s not the first time an Uber dash cam recording has made the news (one such recording was the downfall of Uber’s own CEO), it will probably have many people second-guessing what they say during their next cab ride.
It will be interesting to see where the story goes from here, if it goes anywhere. Uber has been curiously silent throughout the ordeal and now, as it has been claimed the recording does not exist, it may not become an issue for them. But I suspect this won’t be the last dash cam scandal we hear of.
While they haven’t been hugely prevalent, Uber does encourage/allow drivers to use dash cams for safety reasons. However, the ride-sharing giant cautions drivers to check local laws as they vary from state to state and drivers may need to seek consent to record passengers. It’s certainly illegal to publish the contents of recordings without consent, which may explain why the Uber driver and New Idea have denied the existence of the Stefanovic tapes altogether.
As dash cams and other recording devices become more commonplace among its drivers, privacy concerns and Uber’s legal/corporate responsibility will come under greater scrutiny. Uber expects all of its drivers to comply with relevant local, state and federal laws but if this scandal has taught us nothing else, it’s that the lure of a 50k pay-day may be too great for some.
I wonder how many Australians will now be more uncomfortable using Uber? Considering the brand damage this and other scandals like it might incur, perhaps Uber should take its lead from brothers Stefanovic and do some damage control.
and a full story querying why No Idea and Uber aren’t in trouble and getting blowback:
Seemingly the only ‘evidence’ that there was a recording was from Peter Ford’s mouth, but he has since effectively retracted that claim as he now says there is no recording. Even if there was/is a recording how can anyone prove it existed? It seems without any evidence, that Uber has broken any laws regarding the passing on of that conversation. All that happened is that the driver has a big mouth.
There is however plenty of evidence that the Stefanovic brothers are boofheads.
Bit of a gaffe this morning when Richard Wilkin’s was angry that Dua Lipa cancelled her Australian tour dates with Bruno Mars for being sick but was seen performing on Jimmy Kimmell last night.
Dua Lipa was at the Sydney Bruno Mars concert last night
That’s a bit of a stretch though. I’ve worked at a medical centre and patient confidentiality isn’t just a courtesy; it’s a real legal concept whereby if you relay a patient’s details in any way, you lose your job and face being sued by everyone. In that regard, you and I did the bare minimum to keep our jobs because the consequences are just too great.
No such standard exists in the taxi industry. It’s not really an argument you can make that an overheard conversation in an Uber in any way relates to patient confidentiality.
It’s more an argument of common decency too. It’s not just medical situations I hear things, I work in various industries and hear other conversations and rumours etc…
Anyway, I’m reading this morning that the Uber driver is going to be sacked and is reportedly fuming over it after a complaint was made by Peter to Uber about it. Surely he must have seen that was a likely consequence of what he did.
Might be time to revive The Box, That show was modelled on real life stars from the time. There’s an absolute gold mine of inspiration for storylines just within the walls of Nine’s Willoughby studios should a reboot get the go ahead.
There’s an article out today (behind a pay wall) but Dailymail rehashed it about a body language “expert”'s opinion on Karl & Georgie. It’s just getting ridiculous now. Have you noticed most of these stories about Karl are behind pay walls?
Lara won’t get the royal wedding gig, they will send Karl and Georgie over for it Karl has another 60 mins interview this week with Kylie so that must have been why he was in London the other week and apparently he went to Afghanistan too?
Must be premium content.