Il contributo, che trae spunto dalla relazione svolta al Seminario Euromediterráneo su Las relaciones laborales ante las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones, 22-23 giugno 2017, Facultatad de Derecho, Universidad de Sevilla, è destinato al Liber Amicorum Giuseppe Santoro Passarelli, di prossima pubblicazione.

This essay deals with the theme of work through digital platforms, highlighting the complexity and difficulty of providing a unitary understanding. The identifying trait of the various forms of use of digital platforms is the availability of on demand job performances, which - not always - appear easily visible, being often embedded in the final product placed on the market.
Drawing a distinction between work exchanged through digital platforms even though carried out in the material economy, and work carried out strictly on digital platforms, the essay attempts to highlight the essence of the legal qualification of such performance, pointing out the difficulty of extending the case law formulated on Uber to all types of work done through (or on) platforms.
Finally, there is a need for regulatory efforts to look at the specificities of these forms of work, paying attention to the need for social security rules against the risks inherent in the so-called gig economy model to which work on digital platforms often appears to be linked to.