Uber’s audio recording safety measure may end up steering the company towards a privacy compliance quagmire while reaping little benefits in terms of increasing driver numbers, legal experts and women drivers told businessline.

Recently Uber announced an audio recording feature that allows riders and drivers to record audio during trips. The new policy measure was announced as a part of security measure to increase trip safety and encourage more women drivers to join the fleet. The company stated that the recordings will be encrypted, stored locally and accessible to only Uber if voluntarily submitted as part of a safety report.

“Recordings are automatically deleted after 15 days if not used. The feature complies with India’s one-party consent law and is available nationwide,” said Sooraj Nair, Head of Safety Operations at Uber India & South Asia. The app also intimates the rider and driver at the start of the trip that the ride “may be recorded.”

Navigating India’s privacy compliance

Despite the good intentions, Vaneesha Jain, independent lawyer working as a legal consultant with Support Against Sexual Harassment (SASHA India), said that the audio recording measure is likely to be problematic from a data privacy perspective. She pointed out that an individual’s voice is considered personal data under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, as well as the Information Technology Act, 2000. Particularly, the DPDP Act requires companies to send a notice to users before collection of any personal information.

“Given that voice of the driver and each of the passengers are collected and stored by Uber, the company would have an obligation to get legally valid consent for the same by each individual by way of an affirmative action beforehand, after providing them with a notice of the terms of data collection. A one-party consent system is not sufficient; neither is the generic intimation that recording ‘may be done’,” said Jain.

Uber could also record audio during all rides and inform all users and drivers in advance that by using the service, they are consenting to the same, suggested Jain. Even so, Uber may still be obligated to provide users with a copy of the recording upon request under the applicable data protection laws.

What do the drivers want?

When Priyanka Devi, a woman gig driver who has been working with Uber India for seven years in the Delhi-NCR region, heard about the audio recording measure, she wasn’t as thrilled.

“They talk a lot about security and recording as a safety measure but the practical implementation of it is dubious. There’s already an SOS number for women but it doesn’t always work,” she told businessline, adding that commission cuts from trip fares remains a bigger disincentive for women drivers.

When asked what measures could encourage more women drivers, Devi said, “When we drivers file a complaint, we never get a response. They should resolve this. Similarly, if they address the issue of the safety number and revise commission rates per ride, it will prove more effective in bringing in more women drivers.”

Published on December 1, 2024