Instacart shoppers demand answers over wrongfully deactivated accounts

CNN — For Rachael Freedman, shopping for on-demand grocery delivery startup Instacart felt like something of a dream job. An email from Instacart informed her that her account was “linked” to another account on the platform, a breach of the company’s contractor agreement, according to a copy of the correspondence shared with CNN Business. According to Instacart, a “linked account” is the term the company uses to describe an account it has detected as having indications of fraud, but it does not mean there is a duplicate account using identifying information of the shopper, or that the shopper’s personal data has been compromised. In a statement to CNN Business, Instacart said the linked account deactivations impacted a small number of people. It said my password was incorrect.” After a few days of not being able to access her account – or earn money through Instacart – Maynard said it was restored.