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Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

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Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#71

Post by danso »

reaperducer wrote: post #53
danso wrote: post #16

Besides the humor of how Lyft's filter flagged traditionally Caucasian names like "Cummings" – in addition to the usual issues with non-Western names, e.g. Pimpong and Poon – I'm fascinated/confused how this made it into production? The user database already exists and was currently being used by the live application. Before deploying this new filter onto the production database, wouldn't you do a dry run to get not…

Since a credit card is required to use Lyft, why not just validate the name on the card with the card company and make it the issuer's problem?

I just tried to create a driver's account on Lyft's website. There's an initial page where you give them your name. And then, deeper into the process, a form for supplying your name as it officially appears on your driver's license.

Which makes sense. There's likely a lot of drivers who want to go by "Tom" instead of "Thomas" or whatever their full official name is – which is even more important for drivers with very uncommon names who want to go by something more familiar/pronounceable. There's probably a decent safety argument for not requiring drivers to have their full real names be accessible to the user, especially in cases where a driver has an uncommon (i.e. easy to doxx) name.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#72

Post by jorblumesea »

danso wrote: post #16

Besides the humor of how Lyft's filter flagged traditionally Caucasian names like "Cummings" – in addition to the usual issues with non-Western names, e.g. Pimpong and Poon – I'm fascinated/confused how this made it into production? The user database already exists and was currently being used by the live application. Before deploying this new filter onto the production database, wouldn't you do a dry run to get not…

> Which you could easily manually eyeball to make sure there weren't obvious false positives?

Implying devs test their code thoroughly. lol. After working at numerous companies (some with high bars of entry) I've noticed many devs push changes without testing properly. Or, if they test, they rarely consider edge cases or implications of what they're doing and only test the obvious base cases.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#73

Post by matthewarkin »

reaperducer wrote: post #53
danso wrote: post #16

Besides the humor of how Lyft's filter flagged traditionally Caucasian names like "Cummings" – in addition to the usual issues with non-Western names, e.g. Pimpong and Poon – I'm fascinated/confused how this made it into production? The user database already exists and was currently being used by the live application. Before deploying this new filter onto the production database, wouldn't you do a dry run to get not…

Since a credit card is required to use Lyft, why not just validate the name on the card with the card company and make it the issuer's problem?

None of the major card networks except for American Express validate cardholder name. The Address Verification Service (AVS) also only validates numeric values (so if your address is 123 Main Street, 123 Maple Ave will return a matching response)

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#74

Post by userbinator »

shalmanese wrote: post #68
hprotagonist wrote: post #11

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_problem the scunthorpe problem will never die.

You could almost say it's a clbuttic problem.

At least they did not try to modify the names... imagine if every Dick got renamed to Penis!

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#75

Post by m0zg »

There are a lot of Dicks around, if you pardon the pun. On a more salient note, why the fuck would Lyft try to censor language in the first place? Is there a point after which you're _too_ woke for your own good? It's OK to have an "offensive" name.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#76

Post by qwerty456127 »

reaperducer wrote: post #52
qwerty456127 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is all bullshit anyway. A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. I would rather change my actual name to Fuck if I wasn't too lazy to deal with problems like that. I once read a story of a Vietnamese man named Hui. He had to go to the court to protect his right to be named this way in Ukraine where the word is used widely and has only one meaning - a dick.

A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. There was a study linked to on HN a couple of years ago that found that babies recognize swear words even before they have language skills, and that people can sometimes recognize swear words in languages they don't speak. It has to do with the tone and sharpness of the sounds.

Does this mean a baby, whose father's name is Dick would feel bad and/or get mentally traumatized?

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#77

Post by clSTophEjUdRanu »

danso wrote: post #16

Besides the humor of how Lyft's filter flagged traditionally Caucasian names like "Cummings" – in addition to the usual issues with non-Western names, e.g. Pimpong and Poon – I'm fascinated/confused how this made it into production? The user database already exists and was currently being used by the live application. Before deploying this new filter onto the production database, wouldn't you do a dry run to get not…

I had a friend named Hung Wang who was pissed Microsoft wouldn't let him make that his gamertag.

"I'm so sorry my name is offensive!"

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#78

Post by klipt »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #49
vxxzy wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does this directly relate to “Christian” values? Could “Islamic” values be applied? Afterall, the Prophet Mohammed made his opposition to crude language clear in the Hadith. Follow up: Also appears there are some misgiving regarding crude language within the Hindu religion as well. [0] [0]: https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?...

Ok, let's call that puritan values of abrahamic religions.

Ironically a lot of "puritan" values are now considered "social justice" values.

See eg "shirtgate" where an astronomer was castigated by feminists for wearing a shirt with skimpily clad figures, on the basis that it was offensive to women. Ironically, the shirt had been given to him by a feminist woman friend who thought it was liberating.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#79

Post by true_religion »

danso wrote: post #71
reaperducer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since a credit card is required to use Lyft, why not just validate the name on the card with the card company and make it the issuer's problem?

I just tried to create a driver's account on Lyft's website. There's an initial page where you give them your name. And then, deeper into the process, a form for supplying your name as it officially appears on your driver's license. Which makes sense. There's likely a lot of drivers who want to go by "Tom" instead of "Thomas" or whatever their full official name is – which is even more important for drivers with very…

I hear the argument but taxi drivers were always required to show their real name, so the same should apply to Lyft drivers.

The privacy of the driver is outweighed by the need for the public to feel they will safely be taken to their destination in an enclosed vehicle totally controlled by another party.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#80

Post by rolltiide »

matthewarkin wrote: post #73
reaperducer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since a credit card is required to use Lyft, why not just validate the name on the card with the card company and make it the issuer's problem?

None of the major card networks except for American Express validate cardholder name. The Address Verification Service (AVS) also only validates numeric values (so if your address is 123 Main Street, 123 Maple Ave will return a matching response)

Was always wondering about that, only occasionally misspelling a letter here or there to see if a transaction would get approved. Can anyone corroborate?
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