This article was interesting because it brought up a lot of points I was unaware of regarding sharing service platforms I regularly use. One point that I strongly agreed with was that the majority of adults are more inclined to use a sharing service platform once they receive a "positive recommendation or reassuring word-of-mouth" (Jerome and Dambrine). For myself personally, all of the sharing service platforms I use regularly such as Uber and Lyft have been a result of friends' recommendations and positive reviews. Because I trusted my friends, I was inclined to trust the services.
However, after reading this article, I realized how little I had actually known about the companies to which I was allowing access to my private information. For example, I was unaware of the fact that Uber allowed its drivers to also rate their passengers. While I do believe that a two-way rating system is beneficial to the company to prevent its employees from unpleasant encounters with certain clients, the fact that "negative reviews or ratings [can] pile up without clear notice or ability to respond" does not sit well with me due to the lack of transparency.
Another point that the article briefly mentioned was Uber's "God Mode" which I was also unaware of. Upon further research, I was shocked to learn that some drivers were using the trip data to "stalk former partners" or "track the trips of celebrities like Beyoncé" (Roberts and Kokalitcheva). In response to criticism, Uber fired some of its employees who had broken the company's privacy policies, and implemented stricter rules, limiting who has access to what information. I found this to be very ironic because while Uber claimed to value privacy upon the exposure of this particular incident, the CEO threatened to look into the personal lives of journalists who had been critical of the company's practices. Not only did this statement seem highly unprofessional, but it was contradictory of the company's value to earn the trust of its clients and the public. (On a side note, this statement also reminded me of Trump's statement to open up libel laws to make it "easier to sue news organizations for unfavorable coverage" which shows a disregard to the first amendment, possibly threatening the US rule of law (Ember).)
Overall, while I wish that the article had provided more detailed information and concrete examples of such controversies mentioned regarding Uber and Airbrb, it still brought up good points on privacy and company policy, suggesting ways in which sharing service platforms can improve by providing greater transparency.
I think it is also interesting to note that while I am now aware of this information, I will still be using Uber and Lyft because they still provide the services that I need.
http://fortune.com/2016/12/12/uber-privacy-memo/
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/business/media/can-libel-laws-be-changed-under-trump.html?_r=0
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/kris-constable/airbnb-privacy-security-id-jumio_b_4887509.html
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