Xingxin on Bug Here is a question what will not win me friends in a community.
It feels like in our era, the “privacy” has become a kind of religion or the last defense, the final wall between the individual and the device. But forgive me just for a moment, let me ask a rude question:
- When “privacy” is used to separate people from the consequences of their actions?
- Whose interests does it really serve?
To clarify: I am not saying privacy is unimportant. On the contrary, privacy is essential. But sometimes essential things can be hijacked. When “privacy” becomes a bureaucratic moat that protects the institution while leaving you, the customer, fully exposed, it is no more your shield. It becomes their excuse! It becomes a risk transfer, like Bob Rubin Trade where they keep the upside and you absorb the downside.
Uber is a masterclass in this kind of institutional cowardice. A disgrace.
The most expensive lesson I received this week cost me one AirPods Pro 2 case. Last Friday, I needed to ship a Franka Research 3 controller for repair. I took an Uber. The moment I stepped out, my hand went to my pocket and found… air. The case was still in the back seat, and the car had not yet vanished. It was within my view. I ran. I waved my arms like a man trying to signal a departing aircraft. The driver, comfortably insulated inside his metal box by a system that anonymizes him and immunizes him from accountability, simply drove off.
I pulled out my phone to call the driver directly. Guess what? The app does not give you the driver’s number. But the driver can instruct you to wait near the La Paella Spanish cusine restaurant.
This, ladies and gentleman, is what they call “privacy protection”.
Let us examine the asymmetry. Didi, Uber’s Chinese counterpart, provides a virtual number, a simple elegant bit of engineering that preserves anonymous while allowing 2 humans to solve a human problem. Both parties retain skin in the game. Uber, meanwhile, has built a wall. Not to protect you, but to protect itself from the inconvenience of dealing with reality. The driver is anonymous. The company is unreachable. You are alone.
I watched the car disappear into traffic. Then I contacted Uber support. Guess what? No hotline. No chat. Only email. Email!! In an epoch where my food delivery app has real-time customer service, a global mobility platform handles lost property with the responsiveness of a 19th century postal service. Jesus.
The ending was predictable. The driver claimed he found nothing while in the meantime I saw the case was changing its location every 10mins on my “Find My”. Uber support informed me they could provide no further information. The email thread was closed.
Wait, what?
And so I was left to contemplate the fate of my laser-engraved AirPods Pro 2 case, which I can only assume has since been deported to the mainland and is now being sold by some enterprising gentleman at Huaqiangbei. No skin in the game for honesty, you see. The system made sure of that.
:-)
Oh by the way, my hypothesis is true. The case is already on the way deporting to Huaqiangbei.
