A Saturday Facebook thread by Cornelius Ellah, a lecturer at the University of Cross River, has sparked discussions regarding privacy in the context of ride-hailing services like Bolt. Ellah’s recounting of a conversation with a Bolt driver has brought attention to the potential privacy implications of drivers engaging in passengers’ personal affairs during rides NEGROIDHAVEN can report.
Ellah’s thread highlighted an incident where he overheard a Bolt driver’s phone conversation with a passenger, during which the driver made comments about the passenger’s academic performance based on her location description. Ellah expressed concerns about the extent to which drivers should involve themselves in passengers’ personal matters without their consent.
According to the university teacher, “Drivers of Bolt rides see a lot and hear a lot. Some of them talk a lot too.
I hired one of them last night and heard a lot from him during that ride. While we were on our way, he received a phone call from someone who was trying to book his ride. I could clearly hear the caller because the phone was on loudspeaker. I guessed from her voice that she is probably in her late teenage years or early twenties.
“After he dropped that call, he used the caller’s confusing manner of describing her location to lament about this year’s poor JAMB results. According to him, her inability to clearly describe her location was an indication that she may not be able to pass any exams. I simply quietly said “chai!”
“He quickly proceeded to disclose that on the day of this year’s JAMB exams, a young girl called him around 8.50 am to pick her from a hotel located at Murtala Mohammed highway in Calabar for a drop in UNICAL. He explained that when he got to the hotel about 5 minutes after the call, he realized that the girl was a candidate for JAMB exam and was heading to write the exam.
“I told him that although we can’t use that girl’s attitude to explain the failure rate at this year’s JAMB exams, we can only hope that nonchalance doesn’t become a way of life among children of nowadays. He agreed with me.”
Continuing, Ellah noted that “My mind is not on that girl or on this year’s JAMB results. Rather, my mind is still on that Bolt Driver and on other Bolt Drivers. They see a lot and hear a lot. But they should never talk unnecessarily.”
Netizens who commented below Ellah’s thread argued that passengers have a reasonable expectation of privacy during rides, and drivers should refrain from commenting on personal matters unless explicitly engaged by the passenger. According to them, while drivers may overhear conversations unintentionally, they have a responsibility to respect passengers’ privacy and maintain professionalism.
