Uber Is Now monitoring Its bad Drivers

Uber has begun tracking how some of its users force with the intention to see if they’re operating their vehicles at unsafe speeds or using aggressively, reveals The Guardian. The paper says that Uber has been tracking attainable unhealthy drivers in a limited pilot in Houston, Texas on the grounds that “late 2015.” The Guardian adds that users in Houston weren’t made mindful that their driving strategies were being tracked and were simplest notified when Uber needed to access their smartphone data after a customer grievance, even supposing the company’s privateness commentary certainly makes drivers conscious that Uber logs their journeys and has a proper to get right of entry to their geolocation data.

The tracking of bad drivers in Houston is completed by using recording information from the driver’s smartphone’s sensors, says The Guardian, including the accelerometer, which will disclose when a driver hurries up or brakes too quick—movements associated with tailgating conduct.

Uber told The Guardian that this isn’t the only experiment the corporate runs or plans to run to “achieve extra influence” over the behavior of both drivers and passengers. Uber printed that it has put a children’s toy called Bop It! within the back seat of automobiles in Charlotte, North Carolina to distract under the influence of alcohol passengers from interacting with drivers. It also printed that it may ship dashboard smartphone mounts to drivers who’ve been accused of texting while using. And in a bit of of psychological trickery, the corporate has also placed mirrors within the backseats of some Uber automobiles in Seattle to be able to lead to riders to “self-average” their conduct.

The strikes to give a boost to the user’s security experience for both drivers and passengers comes amid extra scrutiny of the corporate over the past 12 months because it continues to reach explosive boom. however how will Uber’s drivers really feel in regards to the firm tracking their driving strategies if the Houston pilot goes global? They most probably gained’t mind, so much, if Uber’s earlier inside polling is anything to go via. In December the company published a survey of 833 of its 400,000 drivers that it said confirmed that 81% of them we glad with the experience of riding an Uber—an increase of 3% over the previous 12 months.

update: Uber reached out to inform us they’ve printed a blog publish announcing this pilot security program. a company spokesperson proven this system and mentioned that the security of its passengers and drivers—both prior to, all over, and after the experience—is one thing the company repeatedly works on.

For the Houston pilot, the spokesperson said the corporate wanted to seek out new ways to make use of information to verify passenger remarks, which helps to each inform and offer protection to drivers.

in the weblog post, titled “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Uber wrote that its program, which uses a driver’s smartphone’s gyrometers and accelerometers to monitor how a user is using, no longer best indicators the corporate to probably unhealthy drivers, but helps protect an Uber driver’s remarks rating. “If a rider complains that a driver accelerated too quick and broke too onerous, we can evaluate that shuttle the usage of knowledge,” the company wrote. “If the feedback is correct, then we can get in touch with the driver. And if it’s now not, shall we use the tips to ensure a driver’s score isn’t affected.”

The Uber spokesperson also advised us that the company is very happy with the use of knowledge and know-how to figure out new how you can beef up the protection of passengers and drivers and will proceed to work on innovative ways to do so one day.