Jennifer Dick has heard it all before.
Her last name (at least to those with an adolescent mind) has always drawn snickers.
“That has been my entire life," said Dick, 40. “I mean, you know, I’m a grown person now and you develop a sense of humor about it.”
But this week, her surname led to a different issue: The Haverhill resident was among an unknown number of people around the country whose monikers — first or last — were flagged by Lyft because they were deemed as inappropriate or not in accordance with the company’s rules.
On Thursday, the ride-share company sent out e-mail alerts and push notifications to customers whose real names such as Dick, Cumming, Cocks, Poon, and others, allegedly violated Lyft’s community guidelines. The users were advised to change the display names on their respective accounts within the next few days.
“As part of Lyft’s guidelines, we require all members of the Lyft community be respectful to help create a comfortable ride for all," the e-mail read, without directly saying why a certain name was flagged. “We’re asking you to update your display name by 12/21.”
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As screenshots of the messages from Lyft started appearing on social media, company officials reversed course and later responded to the apparent flub by sending out a second e-mail, in the form of an apology.
“Earlier today, we mistakenly sent you communications asking you to update your name on your Lyft account. This message was sent in error — we were trying to improve our systems to create a safe and respectful community, and we missed the mark,“ the e-mail, forwarded to the Globe, read. “Rest assured, your name doesn’t go against our Community Guidelines, and we’re so sorry that we communicated otherwise.”
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Alexandra LaManna, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mail to the Globe on Friday that the issue stemmed from Lyft trying to purge accounts that bent the rules.
“Some members of the Lyft community were using names that were either inaccurate, offensive or both," LaManna said in a statement. “In trying to fix the problem, we cast too wide of a net. We were well-intentioned, but our response clearly led to errors that we are working to correct, and we apologize.”
Dick, of Haverhill, said this type of thing has happened to her when trying to register for other websites in the past, so it didn’t come as a complete surprise when the alerts appeared on her phone.
“Pretty much it was, ‘Here we go again,’ ” she said. “I knew exactly what it was about.”
In a tweet to another user who was flagged by Lyft, Dick said it was probably because of what’s called the “Scunthorpe problem," an online phenomenon where websites and algorithms identify names, or strings of letters within names, as obscene or inappropriate for use. The name is taken from the English town of Scunthorpe, where an algorithm prevented residents from opening AOL accounts in 1996.
Others pointed out that the flagged accounts also raise questions about a lack of diversity within the technology industry and how people with names and backgrounds from other cultures can often be excluded or singled out.
“When Lyft can’t even imagine that my family’s last name is Poon,” tweeted Alex C. Poon, of Boston, who got the e-mail from the company while at work. “This is why we need more diversity in tech.”
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In a follow-up telephone interview, Poon, 27, told the Globe that “it was pretty frustrating after getting their e-mails, especially because it had to do with community and respect.”
“You totally just excluded me. You’re totally casting me on the side here,” he said.
But as a person who works in the tech sector, he was somewhat empathetic to the mishap.
“I’m a former software engineer and I’ve been in product for maybe three years, so I could see maybe how this could happen,“ he said.
Still, the whole situation — from the initial hiccup to the apology — could have been handled a bit better, Poon added. And companies in general, he said, can and should do more in terms of having “more diverse tech teams.“
In a bit of an odd twist, some users with names that didn’t seem to be double entendres, but are non-English-sounding, were also notified by the ride-hailing company that they needed to update their accounts.
When Tufts University professor J.P. de Ruiter received the push alert and e-mail, he immediately responded to Lyft on social media, telling them there isn’t anything uncommon about his name — especially where he comes from.
“Name is Dutch,” he told the Globe in a message. “De Ruiter is like DeWalt only in Netherlands we still write the space. It means ‘the horseman,’ my name.”
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If he gets banned from Lyft again, that skill might come in handy.
I got this message too. Apparently "Cincinnati" is now cancelled.
— Josh Cincinnati (@acityinohio) December 19, 2019
(oh and I used to work at Lyft 🤷♂️)
Hey, @AskLyft I promise the name on my account is not trying to be offensive and I can't change it because it's my actual last name on all my accounts. #scunthorpeProblems
— Jen Dick (@Jennifer_Dick) December 19, 2019
When @lyft can’t even imagine that my family’s last name is Poon...this is why we need more diversity in tech. #DiversityInTech #DiversityMatters pic.twitter.com/0qRRRH2IUd
— Alex C. Poon (@AlexCPoon) December 20, 2019
Hey, @lyft, what is the problem you have with my name? It’s quite common in my country, actually. pic.twitter.com/Jf3Bj23Emg
— J.P. de Ruiter (@JPdeRuiter) December 19, 2019
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.