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Uber beefs up safety tech for drivers

Lauren Kate Rawlins
By Lauren Kate Rawlins, ITWeb digital and innovation contributor.
Johannesburg, 29 Aug 2017
Uber now allows drivers to share trip particulars with loved ones.
Uber now allows drivers to share trip particulars with loved ones.

Uber has come up with two ways within the app to try and make trips safer for its driver-partners.

This comes after a number of recent attacks on Uber drivers in SA, culminating in acid being thrown on a driver earlier this month.

The e-hailing service says it will extend its 'Share My Trip' service to drivers and is launching 'Social Connect', which ensures cash-paying riders verify their identity by linking to a social media platform.

Uber says these safety features are a result of driver-partner feedback provided at national focus groups with thousands of driver-partners, and in-person conversations at the Uber Green Light Hubs (partner support centres).

Alon Lits, Uber Sub-Saharan Africa GM, says Uber is committed to developing and implementing new technologies to improve the app at all times.

"We'll continue to welcome driver-partner feedback and prioritise the safety of all those using the Uber app, while regularly tracking the success of new features and updates," says Lits.

'Share My Trip' is already available for riders, allowing them to share their trip status with their contacts. The option for drivers will allow them to share the trip information with loved ones. However, it won't divulge riders' personal information or exact pick-up and drop-off locations.

Driver 'Share My Trip' is a pilot running in Johannesburg and Pretoria with the aim to expand soon.

Uber hopes 'Social Connect' will reduce rider anonymity. It requires riders opting to pay with cash to submit a social media page to help verify their identity.

"While driver-partners have shown their concern regarding the safety of cash trips, many still do not want to remove the cash option altogether. We look forward to applying this additional layer of safety to verify rider identity and further strengthen the rider authentication process," says Lits.

Uber says the variables that are verified are the number of friends, verified profile and phone number. The company says this link is only used for verification and it will never post to Facebook on a user's behalf.

Social Connect is a phased roll out to new cash riders across SA, which means not all new riders will see the request immediately.

These safety features follow others recently launched. Earlier this month, it integrated a 'Cash Indicator' into the app, which allows driver-partners to choose whether they'd like to accept a cash trip request or not.

The company also created a 24/7 emergency number for drivers and has partnered with multiple security companies across SA, to provide quicker response times to drivers in need.

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