Uber Rolls Out Livestream Video Option for Teen Accounts
If you're the parent of a teen or tween, you're likely already tracking them somehow, whether on Life360 or through their Venmo purchases .
Now Uber is upping the ante. While parents have already been able to track every second of their teen's ride, it's now rolling out a new livestream feature to its teen accounts , allowing parents to actually watch their kid as they sit in the vehicle's backseat.
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"Through the driver's smartphone front-facing camera, parents will be able to see their teen in the car in real time," Uber announced in a Wednesday press release . The feature is live as of Tuesday in nine US markets – Atlanta, Phoenix, Orlando, Raleigh-Durham, Portland (Oregon), San Antonio, Cleveland, Rhode Island, and El Paso — with more to come nationwide in the coming weeks.
Photos courtesy of Uber
Responses on social media posts about the livestream news were mixed, including those on a post from Onsite asking if the new feature would make parents feel safer.
"No bc it's an invasion of privacy for minors and what do they do with that footage after the ride???" asked one commenter.
Many others asked about what would be done with the video footage of their kids. According to a spokesperson for Uber, the live video is encrypted, and only a teen's linked guardian (never Uber) can view it during a ride. Once the ride ends, it's stored on Uber's server, where only Uber may access it in the case of a safety incident investigation. Unless they become part of a safety report, recordings are automatically deleted after 14 days.
Other commenters questioned how this would be helpful in the event of an emergency. "I mean what can a parent do through the phone???? Cool idea but the driver can snatch that phone and break it and proceed to do whatever."
But some parents celebrated the newly added safety feature. "Uber has stepped it up. Thank you Jesus," said one, with another adding, "Love this."
Uber first launched teen accounts in 2023, with safety features including live trip tracking, PIN verification and audio recording.
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