Rest of World reports on startup Nippy from Argentina that offers flexworkers free use of the loo in exchange for their data. A new type of extractivism, or is it more than that?
The company rents out small storefronts where gig workers can use clean toilets and get coffee free of charge — in exchange for downloading Nippy’s app. Nippy makes money by processing and selling the data workers register on the app to financial, insurance, and telecommunications companies it has partnered with.
Most delivery workers say to Rest of World that they did not know their data was being sold. Nonetheless, some workers also call it a safe space where they can relax for a while.
That’s what i like about this kind of reporting: it does not get stuck in a simplistic political economy voor but also is mindful of street level perspectives that are more complicated and ambiguous.
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