Uber beefs up security with new recording feature in Gauteng

Uber SA is launching an emergency audio-recording feature that has been effective in Latin America and the US. Here's how it works...

Sep 6, 2022 - 19:00
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Uber beefs up security with new recording feature in Gauteng

Uber South Africa is improving its safety and security by introducing an audio-recording feature to enable passengers and drivers to record their trips for evidence collection.

According to Business Insider, the e-hailing app is set to launch the feature on Thursday 8 September in Johannesburg and Pretoria. It will roll out the safety feature to the rest of the country in the next four weeks, with plans to later expand to Sub-Saharan Africa.

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UBER’S EMERGENCY TOOL WILL IMPROVE SECURITY

The new audio-recording tool forms part of Uber’s Safety Toolkit feature and has been a success in Latin America and the US where it was first launched a few years ago.

With the tool, both passengers and drivers will have the ability to record the trip and submit their recordings during instances where they have logged an incident.

“Riders and drivers will be aware that this feature is available to the other but will not know when the feature is being used,” Uber said.

General Manager for Uber Sub-Saharan Africa, Kagiso Khaole, told ITWeb that with safety and crime being a huge concern in SA, their commitment to raising the bar on safety remains relentless.

“We believe that this feature will improve the conduct of users of the Uber app, as drivers and riders hold each other accountable every step of the way.

“Verbal altercations, sexual misconduct and other violations can be difficult to investigate without evidence; however, we are confident that this new feature will assist Uber in adjudicating such incidents to ensure that the appropriate action is taken,” he explains.

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WHAT HAPPENS TO THE AUDIO AFTER RECORDING?

This feature comes a week after Uber’s food delivery service, Uber Eats, halted operations in Soweto, Gauteng, due to safety concerns. And Khoale says that the new feature is one that drivers have been asking for.

In addition, Khaole said the audio file is encrypted and stored on your devices for up to 15 days. The feature works by allowing users to press the shield icon on the app and select “record audio”, 

“We do not have access to it, we can’t see what’s being recorded. Let’s say for example later on you decice actually that was really bizarre… you go back to your trips and submit it to us. The recording is stored for about 15 days on your device, then it’s automatically deleted,” he said.