Uber to allow driver-partners to share location

After riders, driver-partners of cab aggregator Uber will have the option of sharing their location to enable family and friends to keep a track of their movement.
As part of its UberSAFE campaign, the US-based company has launched the 'Share Trip' feature that will allow the driver-partners to share the details of trip, including route and estimate time of arrival in real-time.
Uber said the feature will help address safety concerns of driver-partners in India. Globally, the feature is available across cities in the US, Brazil, Mexico as well as Cairo, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, among others.
"We carefully considered potential impacts on rider privacy. Information specific to the rider, like name and pickup/drop off information is not shared with this feature," Uber India Head of Central Operations Pradeep Parameswaran told PTI.

In India, the feature is being launched in Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune and Lucknow. It will be fully rolled out across the country by the end of September.
In addition, Uber has also added initiatives like driver de-duplication to help eliminate account sharing incidents.

Uber said its technology will help identify the duplicate accounts, which could have been created for multiple reasons including the driver-partners forgetting passwords.
These accounts will be temporarily paused and the driver-partner will receive an in-app message asking him to verify their accounts. Those accounts that are not verified will be deleted and barred from use in the future.

"This will ensure that only verified drivers have access to the Uber app, thereby ensuring a safe ride for the riders... We will continue to invest in technology and innovation to help ensure a safe, reliable trip from beginning to end," he said.