Uber is introducing a new set of safety features in its app to ensure user safety.
Riders can now contact a security guard with: ADT Security Services while using the Uber app, via a call or text, to track the journey and contact 911 on behalf of the users with details such as license plate, GPS location, and car make and model. The new feature, intended for situations that can cause discomfort but don’t necessarily require emergency assistance, is now available in all 50 states and DC (except the city of Milwaukee, which doesn’t allow third-party 911 calls; but users there can use it on their own behalf. 112 text or call). It’s more about giving riders “peace of mind,” as Uber explained in a statement.
Uber is also expanding its in-app feature that allows riders to instantly text 911, with the app populating key ride details (the vehicle, location, and destination). Uber tested the service in Los Angeles, Minnesota and Indiana in 2019 and will now roll it out to nearly 60% of the U.S. where the technology is supported for 911 centers to receive text messagesincluding all of California and New York City,
All of the new features are part of the company’s reworked security toolkit, which will now be more prominently displayed in the app. Facing criticism about how it attack incidents treated, Uber has focused on building features to eliminate users’ security concerns. In June, the company published its second safety reportwho shared data on the most serious security incidents reported on the platform from 2019 to 2020.
“While the impact of COVID-19 on sexual assault remains generally unclear, data from several federal sources shows a significant increase in violent crime during the pandemic, including homicide, which rose by nearly 30% in 2020, according to the CDC,” he said. legal affairs of Uber. officer Tony West said in a blog post accompanying the report. “Government data also showed that 2020 was the deadliest year on U.S. roads since 2007, due to an increase in risky behaviors such as drunk driving, speeding and not wearing a seat belt. Uber’s platform was not immune to those broader trends.”
Uber said it received 3,824 reports over the two-year period of what it classifies as the five most serious categories of sexual assault, which range from “non-consensual kissing of a non-sexual body part” to rape. That was a drop of 38% from his first safety report (for 2017 and 2018), but it is unclear whether the decline in the number of journeys due to the pandemic contributed to the lower figure. During the same period, 20 people were killed in attacks and 101 died in crashes.