Don’t Even Think About Flirting In Your Uber

Somebody out there is bound to meet their future husband or wife in an UberPool, but the first move won't have been made in the car. Uber has updated its "community guidelines" to impose a blanket ban on – wait for it – flirting. "It's OK to chat with other people in the car," the guidelines specify. "But please don’t comment on someone’s appearance or ask whether they are single." The guidelines add: "And don’t touch or flirt with other people in the car. As a reminder, Uber has a no sex rule. That’s no sexual conduct between drivers and riders, no matter what." In the US, flirting is even listed among various forms of behaviour that could make someone "lose access to Uber as a rider." Other forms of behaviour that can lead to an Uber ban include "asking overly personal questions, using verbal threats, and making comments or gestures that are aggressive, sexual, discriminatory, or disrespectful." Uber's new guidelines may seem extreme, but the company is rightly facing pressure to improve its troubling sexual misconduct record. According to The Guardian, it was revealed in May that Uber drivers in London had been accused of 32 rapes and sexual assaults over a 12-month period.