Driven Out By AI: How Uber Deactivations Force Drivers into Chatbot Hell and Financial Crisis
Rideshare corporations like Uber and Lyft disrupt drivers’ lives through deactivation policies that abruptly block drivers’ access to platforms and income. These firms use AI-driven deactivation processes as a tool to control their workforce while avoiding accountability. For many drivers—especially Black, Latine, and immigrant workers— deactivation threatens their livelihoods and triggers significant financial and emotional distress. Although Uber, the market leader, has made recent commitments to transparency and fairness, it has failed to uphold these promises, further diminishing drivers’ trust.
This report analyzes the results of a first-of-its-kind survey of 727 app-based drivers across the United States who rideshare corporations have deactivated in the past five years. Driver experience highlights continuing systemic failures in a sector that sacrifices worker well-being in pursuit of profit. In particular, a broken appeals process compounds the financial and emotional toll of deactivation. The findings support driver calls for urgent reforms to ensure accountability, transparency, and support for drivers.
For years, Uber drivers have been calling attention to “deactivation”— the process by which drivers get automatically locked out of the app, essentially fired or terminated, often without notice, explanation, or a meaningful way to appeal. Because of the devastating impact that deactivation has on drivers, last year, we worked alongside partners to launch the Activate Respect campaign to demand transparency, fairness, and appeals.