ATLANTA — When you step into your next Uber ride in Atlanta, you will have a new safety feature in your hands.
The rideshare company rolled out an option Wednesday -- across the metro -- for riders and drivers to record audio during their trip.
Uber's safety product manager, Andi Pimmentel Dunn, explained how the interesting feature works.
"First, you have to set up audio recording by heading to the safety tool kit in your Uber app," she said. "The safety tool kit is that small blue shield that you see in your home screen. So you go through the setup process and once you set it up, riders and drivers can choose to start or initiate audio recording of their trips at any time."
Pimmentel Dunn explained no one can listen to the recording, including Uber. The audio recording is encrypted after it is initiated by either party -- the only time the rideshare company will be able to listen back to it is if a user submits a safety report through the app.
“After the trip is over, that recording is then encrypted and saved onto the device. If the user wants to submit a safety report to Uber and attach that recording, they’re able to do so," she added. "Privacy was a central consideration when we were building this feature."
Uber officials said this feature already proved to be helpful with safety investigations in markets that have had this feature for a few years, like South Africa.
“We've seen many instances where recording has helped us understand what went on during the trip. So it’s also very helpful for our support agents when conducting a safety investigation," she said.
Since December 2021, Uber had been piloting this feature in several cities across the U.S., including Raleigh, N.C., Louisville, Ky., Kansas City, Mo., Nashville, Tenn., San Antonio, Texas, Salt Lake City, Utah, Tucson, Ariz., Phoenix, Ariz., and Cincinnati, Ohio.
It first launched in Latin America in 2019, and is being used in more than a dozen countries.
"We're always looking for ways to make the Uber platform safer for riders and drivers," she said. "We really want to lean into technology in order to be able to do so. That's the hope of audio recording, to encourage more respectful, more comfortable, safer interactions between riders and drivers."
Carlos Pineda, who uses Uber about twice a week, said he'll be using the audio recording feature.
“I think it’s good. It protects all parties: it protects the company, it protects the driver and the person who is being driven," he said. "I don’t have anything to hide so I don’t mind if they recorded me or recorded our conversations.”
Meanwhile, rideshare driver John Dabney, says he already uses dash cameras in his vehicle for safety and in case he were to file a report and need any evidence.
“I’ve used it many times," he said. "Passengers getting sick and that kind of thing, having to prove that passengers did it, because a lot of times they’ll act like it wasn’t them and get out of the car."
Uber said the feature can record an entire trip, no matter the length.
The recording automatically ends when the trip ends, but you can choose to stop the recording at any time.
"If you're a rider that matches with a driver who has audio recording set up, you will get an in-app notification, letting you know that your trip could be recorded. We have extensive messaging on that front," Pimmentel Dunn explained.
Dabney said he thinks it's a good feature, but believes the rides should be recorded from start to finish.
"Things can get taken out of context when you don't have the entire ride," he said. "I think this could be reason for a lot of drivers to get fired when things are taken out of context."
As Pimmentel Dunn explains, Uber already has several safety features in place, and added this one to the list.
"This is simply an addition," she explained. "We have the ability to call ADT, we have Share Your Trip, we have 'no left turns for drivers,' and now this will be an additional feature that riders and drivers can use to feel safer on Uber platform."
Instructions from Uber on how to use the new audio recording feature:
"Drivers and riders can set up the feature in the Safety Toolkit in the app. Once enabled, the feature gives riders and drivers the option to record audio during a trip by tapping the blue shield icon on the map screen and hitting “Start” on the “Record Audio” option. Drivers and riders can start or stop an audio recording at any point during a trip. Unless ended manually by the user during the trip, recording will automatically stop shortly after the trip is completed."