Uber gives drivers voice control so they can keep their hands on the wheel

An emergency button for everyone.
An emergency button for everyone.
Image: uber

Uber keeps rolling out new safety features for drivers and passengers.

Just a few months ago, Uber introduced a 911 button and a way to share your trips to trusted contacts. On Wednesday, the ride-sharing app added hands-free features for drivers picking up riders, better data privacy, and automated crash detection. 

As part of a laundry list of safety improvements, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi talked about making Uber trips safer for both passengers and drivers. A passenger killing in China on the ride-hailing app Didi last month has shaken up the ride-sharing community and revived conversations about driver background checks, customer support, and other safety issues.

Voice-activated commands will let drivers pick up passengers without clicking through the app, hopefully resulting in less distracted driving. They also have access to an emergency button and the in-app safety "toolkit," just like passengers.

As an update for both drivers and passengers, Uber made a change in how address and location data is stored and logged. Instead of exact addresses, it's been anonymized. Now the driver (and passenger) can only see a general area of where a trip started and ended. This was something Uber's been testing for months to keep personal info out of the app.

Here's what that looks like from the driver's app:

Your exact address is no longer displayed on the app.

Your exact address is no longer displayed on the app.

Image: UBER

This comes after an Uber data breach from 2016 was exposed last year, which affected 57 million customers. Now with GDPR in place, Uber is making sure to clean up its data storage practices.

Another feature for both drivers and passengers is "Ride Check." If the app senses you haven't moved in a while or were in a possible crash, the new portal will pop up on the Uber app and check that you're OK.

