Recital 19

Digital labour platforms differ from other online platforms in that they use automated monitoring systems or automated decision-making systems to organise work performed by individuals at the request, one-off or repeated, of the recipient of a service provided by the platform. Automated monitoring systems and automated decision-making systems process personal data of persons performing platform work and take or support decisions that affect, inter alia, working conditions. Those features make digital labour platforms a distinct form of organising the service provision by professionals compared to more traditional forms of organising service provision, such as traditional forms of ride hailing or transport service dispatch. Furthermore, the increased complexity in the structural organisation of digital labour platforms goes hand in hand with their fast-paced evolution, often creating systems with a variable geometry in the organisation of work. For instance, there could be cases where digital labour platforms provide a service whose recipient is the digital labour platform itself or a distinct business entity within the same group of undertakings, or organise work in such a way that it blurs the traditional patterns which are typically recognisable in the systems of provision of services. This might also be the case for microwork or crowdwork platforms, which are a type of online digital labour platform that provide businesses and other clients with access to a large and flexible workforce for the completion of small tasks that can be performed remotely using a computer and internet connection, such as tagging. Tasks are split up and distributed to a large number of individuals (the crowd) who can complete them asynchronously.