Uber's audio recording feature can help improve ride safety

From minor altercations to serious incidents like robberies, accidents, and harassment, ride trips can sometimes spin unpredictable and worrisome situations.

If you have ever felt unsafe on a trip, Uber's audio recording feature – which first launched in 2019 in Latin America – can help you record audio on a trip and report a safety incident.

Already successful in its pilot launch in South Africa in September 2022 with over 3,400 drivers and 80,000 riders using the feature, Uber is gradually expanding the feature to Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and other African countries where it has a presence.

How to use the audio recording feature

• Set up the feature by tapping the shield icon located on the map. (Once it’s set up, riders will see in their app that audio may be recorded on their trip.)
• Record audio on a trip by opening your safety toolkit and using the start or stop buttons near Record Audio to start or stop recording.

According to Uber, the trip audio recordings will be encrypted and stored on your device. Neither you nor anyone else will be able to listen to the recording while on your device and Uber’s Support team will only have access to it if you choose to share it when reporting a safety incident.

Using the feature, you as a driver or rider can record and share audio of your trips directly through the safety toolkit as evidence in the event of a safety-related incident.