Inflection Is the Background Check Company Making Decisions for Uber and Airbnb

CYBER

VICE

Tech News, News & Politics, Technology, News

4 • 645 Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2022

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Apps have made our life so convenient haven’t they? With the push of a button you can order Postmates, book an Airbnb, or even call an Uber. But what happens when the apps stop taking your calls? What happens when they shut you out completely?

It’s happening more and more. In a bid to increase user safety, companies like Airbnb and Uber are turning to third parties to run background checks for them. A lot of it is automated and the background checkers make a lot of mistakes. So what happens if you’ve been a five star guest on Airbnb but a decades old run in with the cops suddenly makes you a pariah?

Not much, it turns out.

On this episode of Cyber, Motherboard senior editor Samantha Cole comes on to talk about Inflection, the company running background checks for Uber, Airbnb and DraftKings.

Stories discussed in this episode:

Banished for an Unleashed Dog: Airbnb Bans Bewilder Guests and Hosts

‘Consumers Get Screwed’: Airbnb’s and Uber’s Background-Check Company Keeps Getting Sued

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Tadden, it's got the code it's going to launch.
0:10.2	It's a unique system.
0:12.6	I know this.
0:14.6	It's all the files of the whole park.
0:16.8	It tells you everything.
0:18.5	Sir, he's uploading the virus.
0:21.3	Eagle 1. The package is being delivered.
0:24.7	Hello out there on the internet.
0:26.2	I am Matthew Galt.
0:27.5	This is cyber.
0:29.3	Apps have made our life so convenient, haven't they?
0:32.1	With the push of a button, you can order Postmates, book an Airbnb, or even call an Uber.
0:37.2	But what happens when the app stop taking your calls?
0:39.4	What happens when they shut you out completely?
0:42.3	In a bid to increase user safety, companies like Airbnb and Uber are turning to third
0:47.0	parties to run background checks for them.
0:49.4	A lot of it is automated, and the background checkers make a lot of mistakes.
0:53.9	So what happens if you've been a five-star guest on Airbnb for its entire existence,
0:59.3	but a decades-old running with the cops suddenly makes you a pariah?
1:03.5	Not much, it turns out, unless you have the ear of a national news team.
1:08.2	With me today to talk about this as Motherboard Senior Editor
1:10.8	Samantha Cole.
	...

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