Uber will let parents peek through a driver’s selfie camera when teens are taking a trip
Uber is trialling a feature that lets parents and guardians view a live video feed from a driver's front-facing selfie camera when a linked teen account is taking a trip, offering a wider view inside the vehicle. The move builds on Uber's existing teen account tools and is aimed at giving parents extra reassurance about their child's safety during rides, without needing to contact the teen or driver directly.
When a teen begins a trip, the guardian gets a push notification if the live feed is available, and both the teen and driver are alerted once viewing starts; the stream ends when the trip does. Uber says no one, including itself, can access a recording afterwards under normal circumstances — encrypted footage is automatically deleted after 14 days unless a safety report triggers a review, in which case Uber may retain it for longer under its data retention policy. The feature is being piloted in nine US locations, including Atlanta, Phoenix, Orlando and Portland, with a wider US rollout planned in the coming weeks.
- Uber to let parents view live selfie-cam feed during teens' trips.
- Feature is opt-in, notification-based and ends when the trip does.
- Piloting in nine US cities before a broader nationwide rollout.
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Uber's app already includes safety tools aimed at teenagers who use the service without a parent present, such as trip tracking and driver ID checks. Parents or guardians can link their account to a teenager's so they can follow rides in real time. This latest step extends that system by giving parents access to a live video feed from the camera drivers use for identity checks.
Uber is the company behind the ride-hailing app, and drivers already have a front-facing camera fitted for verification purposes as part of their normal setup. The people affected are teenage passengers with a linked family account, their parents or guardians, and the drivers who pick them up, all of whom would be notified when the camera feature is switched on for a trip.
The idea sits within a wider debate about balancing safety and privacy in ride-hailing services used by young people, and about how much oversight parents should have over their children's independent journeys. It also touches on questions of data handling, since footage from inside vehicles is being captured and stored, even temporarily, by a private company.