Every day, Uber facilitates 16 million trips around the world. We want all of those trips to be convenient and affordable, but we also want them to be safe and respectful.

With Uber, every trip is tracked with GPS and no trip is anonymous. All drivers undergo a driving and criminal history check in line with state law before they can drive on the app. All trips are also insured and we have a 24/7 support team on hand to help if you need it. 

But we’re always looking to do more. That’s why we’re constantly building and improving on how we approach safety. So whether you’re a first time Uber user, or someone who has taken hundreds of rides, here’s a guide to what’s already available in your Uber app, and what’s in the pipeline. 

Share Your Trip

With the Uber app, riders and drivers have the ability to share details of each trip in real time with family and friends, including their route and estimated arrival time. You can set up the Share My Trip feature to also automatically prompt you to share your trip details all the time, or just during evening hours. And if you want to share your trip details with family and friends who don’t have the Uber app themselves, you can do that too. 

Finding the right ride

Every time you take a trip with Uber, you can make sure you’re getting into the right car with the right driver by matching the license plate, car make and model, and driver photo with what’s provided in your app. Riders now also receive Check Your Ride notifications as their ride approaches prompting them to check these details.

We’re also making it easier for you and the driver to find each other with Spotlight. With these feature your phone lights up with a colourful ‘Spotlight’ as the driver-partner approaches. The driver-partner sees this same colour in the app so they know they have the right rider.

Improved safety selfies

In 2016, we announced Real-Time ID Check, which helps ensure that the driver behind the wheel matches the account in our system. We started with basic selfies, and in 2019 we enhanced this technology further, introduced fraud detection technology and added real-time human review. 

Privacy and staying safe online

The app makes phone numbers anonymous, so your personal information stays private. We also further protect riders’ information by concealing specific pickup and dropoff addresses in the driver’s trip history. After the trip ends, the Driver app will only show the general area where a trip started and ended, not the address.

We also help users stay safe online, with two factor authentication available to both riders and drivers using the Uber app. This helps prevent against someone else from logging into your account even if they have your password. 

Help when you need it

Our 24/7 Customer Support team are ready to help when you need it. Simply tap ‘Help’ in the app or visit help.uber.com.

In the unlikely event you encounter an emergency, you can use the emergency assistance button on your app to be connected directly to local emergency services. Your location will be displayed on the screen so you can let the operator know quickly and accurately where you are.

Keeping the Uber community great

We all belong to different communities that teach us the importance of treating everyone with respect and looking out for one another. That’s what we had in mind this year when we re-launched our Community Guidelines, which riders and drivers are being asked to acknowledge in-app over coming months. After each trip, you’ll also be asked in the app to rate your trip. We care about this feedback greatly, because it is your feedback that helps keep the Uber community safe, respectful and enjoyable for everyone. 

Visit the Safety Toolkit in your Uber app for more safety tips and to learn about driver screening processes, insurance, and Uber’s community guidelines.