5 ms·

Talk about a great way to phish any unsuspecting saps who might try out the service. Also, I'm vaguely horrified at the notion that background checks might bec

by phillmv 12y ago

Talk about a great way to phish any unsuspecting saps who might try out the service. Also, I'm vaguely horrified at the notion that background checks might become standard even for 'sharing economy' gigs. Ah, well, you see, your pot charge disqualifies you from picking up my laundry.

timjahn 12y ago
Would you ever want a stranger driving you home who wasn't background checked in some way? I wouldn't.
- phillmv 12y ago
  I have the privilege of being a white male who lives in a safe city and thus rarely feels threatened. So, it's not something I think about. What's the threat model? They're going to case your house and rob you at some point in the future? In an ideal world, that sounds plausible. Let's keep child molesters away from child care! Who can disagree with that? But in practice, it means that all offenders are permanent second class citizens barred from non-marginal employment opportunities. It's extremely pernicious, and you don't have to exaggerate anything to reach slippery slopes. Because there is no discretion in the system, anyone remotely tagged by law enforcement can be screwed by this. Recently here in Canada it turns out that non-offense data was turning up in background checks. So, some guy was in the process of becoming a nurse, iirc, but was not allowed to graduate - because his neighbour five years ago was a drug dealer. That's it. The background check revealed that he was asked some questions and that's that. Four years of tuition down the drain. If you can never find a way to reasonably support yourself, regardless of how much you've turned your life around, then we've created a self fulfilling prophesy in terms of recidivism rates. Keep in mind we're talking about the sharing economy, which almost by definition are going to be bottom of the barrel 'gigs' to begin with. Does it matter if person folding your laundry got into a drunken fight when they were 19? Not really.
  - timjahn 12y ago
    "Does it matter if person folding your laundry got into a drunken fight when they were 19? Not really." No. It doesn't. Does it matter if a person with a history of DUIs (or even ONE) drives me for Lyft? Yes. Does it matter if a person with a history of armed robbery or home invasion delivers groceries to my house for Instacart? Yes.
    - phillmv 12y ago
      Surely, your emotional reaction depends on how long ago the DUI was. What if they had ONE DUI ten years ago? Armed robbery and home invasion are very different crimes. Just because they held up a liquor store doesn't mean they're going to rob you while you sit in the backseat of their car, with their picture and full identity flashing on your phone. And home invasions are crimes of opportunity. I'm not sure I think that background discrimination is always wrong. Just that it's grossly overused, and there is no room for discretion - especially considering how many people get bullshit charges in the US. Does a DUI disqualify you from being a good programmer, or a well respected project manager? I'm not sure that it does. Maybe you're an asshole, or maybe you did something stupid while undergoing your divorce. It's especially egregious to start barring people from the bottom-of-the-barrel gigs as well. At that rate, you might as well never release them from prison to begin with.
      - tehwebguy 12y ago
        > Surely, your emotional reaction depends on how long ago the DUI was. What if they had ONE DUI ten years ago? Yeah, DUI should disqualify you from ever driving professionally IMO. Anecdotal, sure, but my experience is that people who actually have a DUI are the ones that finally got caught after years. Then again, the well to do people I know (or ones with a well to do family) with a DUI actually got their charge reduced to reckless driving by fighting it in court, so maybe there are as many false negatives as positives.
        hueving 12y ago
        >Yeah, DUI should disqualify you from ever driving professionally IMO. Anecdotal, sure, but my experience is that people who actually have a DUI are the ones that finally got caught after years. What you are implying is that once someone drives drunk they will never stop. If that's the case, they should be stripped of their license completely. It doesn't make sense to stop half way and say they can keep driving themselves but can't drive professionally. Both scenarios put many people at risk.
- mgkimsal 12y ago
  front line employees making $9/hour get screened, but executives with golden parachutes manage to get hired with falsified university transcripts, leaving trails of steaming wreckage behind them, destroying thousands of those $9/hour jobs. :( no real relevance to what you posted, but it made me want to rant.
  - timjahn 12y ago
    Completely agree.
pjc50 12y ago
It's the reputational, "whuffie" economy, only in reverse.
- benlesh 12y ago
  TIL (well, today I Googled) what a whuffie is.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
cnaut 12y ago
Background checks are already pretty standard in the sharing economy

by phillmv 12y ago

timjahn 12y ago

Would you ever want a stranger driving you home who wasn't background checked in some way? I wouldn't.

phillmv 12y ago
I have the privilege of being a white male who lives in a safe city and thus rarely feels threatened. So, it's not something I think about. What's the threat model? They're going to case your house and rob you at some point in the future? In an ideal world, that sounds plausible. Let's keep child molesters away from child care! Who can disagree with that? But in practice, it means that all offenders are permanent second class citizens barred from non-marginal employment opportunities. It's extremely pernicious, and you don't have to exaggerate anything to reach slippery slopes. Because there is no discretion in the system, anyone remotely tagged by law enforcement can be screwed by this. Recently here in Canada it turns out that non-offense data was turning up in background checks. So, some guy was in the process of becoming a nurse, iirc, but was not allowed to graduate - because his neighbour five years ago was a drug dealer. That's it. The background check revealed that he was asked some questions and that's that. Four years of tuition down the drain. If you can never find a way to reasonably support yourself, regardless of how much you've turned your life around, then we've created a self fulfilling prophesy in terms of recidivism rates. Keep in mind we're talking about the sharing economy, which almost by definition are going to be bottom of the barrel 'gigs' to begin with. Does it matter if person folding your laundry got into a drunken fight when they were 19? Not really.
- timjahn 12y ago
  "Does it matter if person folding your laundry got into a drunken fight when they were 19? Not really." No. It doesn't. Does it matter if a person with a history of DUIs (or even ONE) drives me for Lyft? Yes. Does it matter if a person with a history of armed robbery or home invasion delivers groceries to my house for Instacart? Yes.
  - phillmv 12y ago
    Surely, your emotional reaction depends on how long ago the DUI was. What if they had ONE DUI ten years ago? Armed robbery and home invasion are very different crimes. Just because they held up a liquor store doesn't mean they're going to rob you while you sit in the backseat of their car, with their picture and full identity flashing on your phone. And home invasions are crimes of opportunity. I'm not sure I think that background discrimination is always wrong. Just that it's grossly overused, and there is no room for discretion - especially considering how many people get bullshit charges in the US. Does a DUI disqualify you from being a good programmer, or a well respected project manager? I'm not sure that it does. Maybe you're an asshole, or maybe you did something stupid while undergoing your divorce. It's especially egregious to start barring people from the bottom-of-the-barrel gigs as well. At that rate, you might as well never release them from prison to begin with.
    - tehwebguy 12y ago
      > Surely, your emotional reaction depends on how long ago the DUI was. What if they had ONE DUI ten years ago? Yeah, DUI should disqualify you from ever driving professionally IMO. Anecdotal, sure, but my experience is that people who actually have a DUI are the ones that finally got caught after years. Then again, the well to do people I know (or ones with a well to do family) with a DUI actually got their charge reduced to reckless driving by fighting it in court, so maybe there are as many false negatives as positives.
      - hueving 12y ago
        >Yeah, DUI should disqualify you from ever driving professionally IMO. Anecdotal, sure, but my experience is that people who actually have a DUI are the ones that finally got caught after years. What you are implying is that once someone drives drunk they will never stop. If that's the case, they should be stripped of their license completely. It doesn't make sense to stop half way and say they can keep driving themselves but can't drive professionally. Both scenarios put many people at risk.
mgkimsal 12y ago
front line employees making $9/hour get screened, but executives with golden parachutes manage to get hired with falsified university transcripts, leaving trails of steaming wreckage behind them, destroying thousands of those $9/hour jobs. :( no real relevance to what you posted, but it made me want to rant.
- timjahn 12y ago
  Completely agree.

pjc50 12y ago

It's the reputational, "whuffie" economy, only in reverse.

benlesh 12y ago
TIL (well, today I Googled) what a whuffie is.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

cnaut 12y ago

Background checks are already pretty standard in the sharing economy