Introducing Uber’s Latest Safety Features
Written byAt Uber, your safety is our top priority. We are proud of our strong safety track record here in Hong Kong and of the work our team has done to increase safety for riders, drivers, and the public – from our high standards for driver-partners to our in-app safety technologies to our global insurance policy that covers every Uber ride.
Our work doesn’t stop there, though. With more riders and drivers joining the platform every day, we are focused on doing more and continuing to raise the bar on safety and security.
We’re pleased to announce two new in-app safety features for Hong Kong that will make Uber rides even safer and more reliable.
DISGUISED PHONE NUMBERS
To ensure your privacy, over the next couple weeks we’ll be rolling out a feature that disguises your phone number when you communicate with driver-partners. Whether you’re calling or sending a text message, the driver-partner will see an anonymized number.
With this feature, you can coordinate pick-ups without giving away your personal number, and driver-partners will only be able contact you between the time you request your trip and minutes after the trip ends.
This feature will be rolled out in the coming weeks and you can expect to see a few changes:
- When you’re calling or receiving a call from a driver, their number may appear as a landline number
- When texting and calling a driver, the numbers may be different
- If you’re a regular rider, you may notice the same anonymised number used for different drivers
- If ‘Private Number’ is enabled on your phone you’ll still be able to text your driver but you’ll need to disable it to be able to make calls through the app
SAFETYNET
With SafetyNet, we’ve revamped the “Share My ETA” feature to make it easier and quicker than ever for you to share details of your trip with family and friends, offering them peace of mind. SafetyNet lets you pre-select up to five contacts to receive information about your trip, including your real-time route and location on the map, as well as the driver-partner’s first name and vehicle information. What’s more, the link with the details are all sent from a server, so riders won’t incur SMS costs.