A Toronto woman received a shocking text message: a full transcript of her private conversation during a Lyft ride. The incident has sparked privacy concerns and raised questions about ride-sharing security.
Anvi Ahuja received a text transcript of her Lyft ride conversation shortly after returning to her Toronto apartment. The text came from an unknown number, detailing her private conversation with roommates. Ahuja, unaware of any recording, contacted Lyft.
Initially, Lyft suggested it was a pilot program but later blamed the driver for the unauthorized recording. Lyft confirmed the incident but denied it was part of their US audio recording pilot, citing privacy violations. They attributed the text to a masked number, potentially from the driver’s phone, via voice-to-text.
Lyft later suggested the recording was likely accidental due to phone activity between the driver and rider’s masked numbers.
Privacy experts, including former Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian, deemed the incident “completely unacceptable,” citing Canada’s PIPEDA law, which requires informed consent for personal information collection.
Ahuja remains concerned about her privacy and data security, regardless of whether it was a one-off incident.
