The Breakdown
Tech Giants Make Headway on Gig Worker Classification
Georgia and Alabama laws say gig workers won’t be considered employees
Maddy Varner
Investigative Data Journalist
Maddy Varner was an investigative data journalist for The Markup. She left in May 2023.
Maddy extracts datasets from public documents and databases to help build a more concrete understanding of how organizations use technology to predict and affect behavior—and the problems in those assumptions.
Before The Markup, she was a researcher at ProPublica, where she was on a team that won a Loeb Award for Beat Reporting in 2017 for “Monetizing Hate,” a series of stories that examined Facebook’s ad practices.
The Breakdown
Gas Prices Are High—Does the Popular App Upside Save Money?
Turns out, it depends on who you are
News
Washington State Looks to Become the Second, After California, Where Uber and Lyft Drivers Can’t Be Employees
The bill, backed by the two companies, would prevent drivers from receiving some employee benefits
News
Bill in Washington State Would Be First to Bar Uber and Lyft Drivers from Being Classified As Employees
The gig companies and a local Teamsters union helped shape the measure’s language
Working for an Algorithm
Data Provided by Amazon Workers Offers Rare Glimpse into COVID Cases in California Warehouses
Workers say getting sick leave and information on outbreaks can be a struggle
News
Public Agencies Are Buying Up AI-Driven Hiring Tools and “Bossware”
The Markup, through public records requests, found more than 20 public agencies using the sometimes-controversial software
Working for an Algorithm
Amazon Is Rolling Back COVID Protocols in Its Warehouses. Workers Say It’s Premature
Two Oregon warehouses have been in an active outbreak for nearly 19 months. Elsewhere in the country, warehouse workers report continual cases
Privacy
Thousands of Geofence Warrants Appear to Be Missing from a California DOJ Transparency Database
California requires law enforcement to report the controversial warrants to a state database—but The Markup found massive discrepancies in how they’re reported
Blacklight
Nonprofit Websites Are Riddled With Ad Trackers
Such organizations often deal in sensitive issues, like mental health, addiction, and reproductive rights—and many are feeding data about website visitors to corporations
News
Millions of Prequalified Households Are Missing Out on a Crucial Internet Benefit
The Emergency Broadband Benefit fund was supposed to be widely available, but not everyone is getting the money
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