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Creeper Uber driver livestreamed & archived his riders on Twitch (without consent)


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St. Louis Uber driver has put video of hundreds of passengers online. Most have no idea.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published Friday night. It was updated 9:30 p.m. Saturday with a statement from Uber saying the driver has been suspended from the ride-hailing app. His livestream channel has disappeared from Twitch. This article was updated again Sunday morning with a statement from Lyft that the driver has been deactivated. 

ST. LOUIS • On a recent Saturday night, two women in their early 20s called an Uber from Ballpark Village in downtown St. Louis.

Within minutes “Jason” arrived driving a black Chevrolet Silverado. They climbed into the pickup’s back seat, illuminated by purple lights.

The driver, a bearded man in his 30s, was friendly. The women asked where he went to high school. They joked about friends they were going to meet at a bar across town.

But there was something the women didn’t know: Their driver was streaming a live video of them to the internet, and comments from viewers were pouring in.

The blonde is a 7, the brunette a 5, someone with the username “DrunkenEric” commented.

“She doesn’t sit like a lady though,” another viewer added.

“This is creepy,” said another.

The women are among hundreds of St. Louis area Uber passengers who have been streamed online without their knowledge by their driver, Jason Gargac, 32, of Florissant.

Gargac has given about 700 rides in the area since March through Uber, plus more with Lyft. Nearly all have been streamed to his channel on Twitch, a live video website popular with video gamers where Gargac goes by the username “JustSmurf.”

Passengers have included children, drunk college students and unwitting public figures such as a local TV news reporter and Jerry Cantrell, lead guitarist with the band Alice in Chains.

First names, and occasionally full names, are revealed. Homes are shown. Passengers have thrown up, kissed, talked trash about relatives and friends and complained about their bosses in Gargac’s truck.

All the while, an unseen online audience watches, evaluating women’s bodies, judging parents and mocking conversations. (snip)

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...Several passengers told the Post-Dispatch that after learning about Gargac’s stream, they complained to Uber. The company gave them a $5 credit, and a promise that they would not be paired with Gargac as a driver.

Lyft and Uber initially released prepared responses to questions from the Post-Dispatch about the livestream, simply noting the practice is legal because in Missouri only one party to a conversation needs to consent to a recording. In this case, that is Gargac.

“Driver partners are responsible for complying with the law when providing trips, including privacy laws,” an Uber spokesman wrote earlier this month. “Recording passengers without their consent is illegal in some states, but not Missouri.”

A Lyft spokesman echoed that response, saying drivers are required to follow local laws, “including with regard to the use of any recording device.”

The companies did not respond to follow-up questions over the course of a week about the ethics of livestreaming customers without their knowledge. After this story was published, an Uber spokeswoman said the company suspended Gargac after reviewing his videos.

“The troubling behavior in the videos is not in line with our Community Guidelines,” the new statement read. “The driver’s access to the app has been removed while we evaluate his partnership with Uber.”

Uber prohibits inappropriate or disrespectful behavior by drivers, including comments on appearance or sexual remarks, the statement said.

Lyft also deactivated Gargac as a driver, a company spokesperson said in a statement early Sunday. 

And neither company has answered questions about policies regarding drivers livestreaming.

Twitch, the website that hosts the livestream videos, did not respond to multiple requests for comment until after this story was published. In a statement Saturday, a spokesman said Twitch would remove content if it received a complaint from someone whose privacy was violated.

Gargac’s Twitch channel disappeared from the website Saturday. The company said it does not comment on specific violations, and it was unclear why the channel it was down. Before it disappeared, the channel had about 4,500 followers and some 100 subscribers who paid $5 a month to support Gargac's efforts.

Gargac said he has earned about $3,500 off Twitch users, including subscriptions, donations and tips called “bits.” That’s on top of about $150 to $300 from fares on an average night.(snip)

 

 

...There may still be some legal recourse for his passengers, but any case would face obstacles, said Chip Stewart, a professor at Texas Christian University who has published research on the privacy implications of livestreaming.

Missouri does not criminalize parties who record their own interactions, unless it includes a photo or video of someone who is nude or partly nude without that person’s consent.

Civil precedent in the state does allow people to sue for their privacy rights if they are recorded without consent when they have what the law calls “a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

It’s not clear whether courts would find the back of an Uber to be a place with a reasonable expectation of privacy, Stewart said.

“This is one of those things that’s certainly a breach of our norms, but the law might not be a great way to take care of that yet,” he said. “That could change if the law evolves, but it’s moving pretty slow when it comes to this technology.”

Privacy concerns

At times, commenters question Gargac's tactics. He often responds that his truck is a public space.

“I have sex in my bedroom. I don’t have sex in strangers’ cars,” he said. “Because I have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the bedroom in my own house. I don’t have that in a stranger’s car.”

Still, Gargac said he made changes in response to privacy concerns.

About a month ago, his camera captured a momentary view up a woman’s skirt as she slid across his back seat. It was then “clipped” by one of his viewers for later viewing. The clip was still online until Saturday, when Gargac’s entire channel disappeared.

After noticing the clip, Gargac created a graphic he could trigger with his control panel to block a portion of the screen with an image of a rooster.

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Gargac said he created the graphic to avoid violating Twitch’s terms of service, which forbid sexual content.

“So it’s partly the (terms of service) and partly to respect the people,” he said. “You know, I wouldn’t want my junk out there on camera, so I’m going to try to respect everyone else as much as I can.”(snip)

 

 

...Gargac graduated from a police academy last year and is looking to be hired by a department. The Missouri Department of Public Safety confirmed that Gargac is a licensed peace officer in the state.(snip)

 

 

...At the end of a 90-minute in-person interview with the Post-Dispatch, Gargac asked that his full name not be published in connection with this story.

The Post-Dispatch already knew his name. He said it in one of his own videos, and his identity was later confirmed through public records and social media accounts. He gave a reporter his business card.

“Stick with my first name, if you can, because privacy concerns,” he said. “You know, the internet is a crazy place.”

 

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13 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

If he is making money off the stream sue him for a piece. It’s the American way. 

Met a Jewish lawyer once when he once overheard the name of one of the actors from Star Tech Sulu, respond with: "who the hell is Lou?"  

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