FILE - In this May 15, 2020 file photo, an Uber sign is displayed inside a car in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
SALT LAKE CITY– Rideshare company Uber is testing an in-app audio recording feature in Salt Lake City.
On Monday, the company announced it was expanding a pilot program to six cities, including Salt Lake City. The program gives riders and drivers the ability to record their trips.
“Our hope … is that we can facilitate more comfortable … respectful, and just more safe interactions between riders and drivers,” said Andi Pimentel Dunn, a safety products manager for Uber.
Users will find the feature in the Safety Toolkit section of the app. It gives users the option to record, but it is not required.
“If a driver has the feature enabled, that rider gets a notification that recording may happen as soon as they’re matched with the driver, “Pimentel Dunn said. “If for any reason anyone feels uncomfortable with being recorded, they can always cancel that trip.”
Should a user choose to record, shortly after the trip concludes, they will receive an encrypted file of the audio that not even Uber can access alone. If something does go wrong, the user can share that file with the company so they can determine the right course of action.
“(People) can use it as an added layer of safety in case they start feeling uncomfortable or something starts going wrong during a trip,” Pimentel Dunn said.
The company will be gathering feedback from users for the time being.
More information is available at Uber’s product information page.