Uber plans to start audio-recording rides in the U.S. for safety

Uber plans to record audio during rides in the United States as part of a new security feature, in its latest push to protect riders and drivers amid rising safety concerns.

The feature, which is first to be piloted in some Latin American cities next month, allows users to opt in to activate an audio recording on any trip or all trips, according to internal communications viewed by The Washington Post and confirmed by Uber. In markets where it’s available, users would probably be given a blanket warning that trips are subject to recording — and that the feature will be active in their market. Riders and drivers will not be able to listen back.

“When the trip ends, the user will be asked if everything is okay and be able to report a safety incident and submit the audio recording to Uber with a few taps,” according to an email written by an Uber executive and obtained by The Post. “The encrypted audio file is sent to Uber’s customer support agents who will use it to better understand an incident and take the appropriate action.”

The company plans to test it in the United States “soon,” according to the email, but the timeline for rolling it out is still unclear and may be difficult. “Laws in the United States around consent to being recorded can vary from state to state, but we hope to be able to make this available nationally,” the email said.

In an interview with The Post, Sachin Kansal, Uber’s head of safety products, said the feature is expected to help prove the truth of what happened on a ride, allowing the company to take decisive action.

No thanks. I will take a Yellow cab or even Gypsy over this crap.Makes me NOT want to use the service.
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It’s a good security feature. I know I’d like to have a college age daughter take such a service rather than a less monitored one. Apparently it wii be set up to let the users know in advance about that “security” feature. Those that want to avoid it can take a Pakistani driven Uber instead which will not be similarly monitored. Good luck to our daughters with that.

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