Uber is adding a feature to teen-only accounts that lets parents check live video in real time.

On Aug. 25, local time, multiple foreign media outlets including IT publication The Verge reported that parents will be able to briefly view footage from the front camera on a driver’s smartphone while their child is using Uber. Uber said it was designed to give parents greater peace of mind while their teen is traveling.

The feature is an additional safety measure Uber is rolling out after introducing teen accounts in 2023. Uber has said parents can track their child’s travel through PIN verification and real-time GPS tracking, and it already offers an optional audio recording feature. Since the launch of teen accounts, rides using those features have totaled "tens of millions," Uber said. With the addition of live video viewing during trips, the scope for parental involvement has expanded by one step.

How it works depends on driver consent. Drivers who have opted to accept ride requests from minors will be asked again whether they will briefly open their phone’s selfie camera to parents. If the driver approves, a push notification is sent to the parent or guardian linked to the teen account that live video is available. When a parent is watching, both the teen user and the driver are notified of that fact. Live video stops automatically when the trip ends.

Uber said security and privacy are core conditions. It said live video during a trip can be viewed only by the parent or guardian linked to the teen account, and no one, including the driver, parent or guardian, or teen user, can access a recorded version after the ride ends. Uber said it separately stores an encrypted recording and deletes it automatically after 14 days unless a safety report is filed. It added that only when it needs to investigate an incident can it use a decryption key to access the recording, and in that case it may retain the data for more than 14 days under its data retention policy.

The move appears to reflect concerns about the safety of ride-hailing services. Uber is currently facing about 4,000 lawsuits in state and federal courts over sexual assault and inappropriate conduct filed by passengers. Many of the cases include allegations of wrongdoing by drivers. Uber says drivers must maintain top ratings and a clean safety record to qualify for teen-request trips.

This is not the first time Uber has used the driver’s front-facing camera for a safety feature. When drivers turn on the optional 'Record My Ride' feature, the Uber application automatically records the ride using the smartphone’s front camera and microphone. Uber has said it cannot view the recorded video at will and can review it only when a driver uploads it during a safety reporting process.

Uber has expanded its teen ride business as the share of teens holding driver’s licences has declined over the past 20 years. Dara Khosrowshahi (다라 코스로샤히), Uber’s chief executive officer, said in a podcast interview last year that some teens are choosing to use ride-hailing services such as Uber instead of driving themselves or buying their first car.

The feature is being piloted in nine areas: Atlanta, Phoenix, Orlando, Raleigh-Durham, Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland, Rhode Island and El Paso. Uber said it plans to expand it across the United States in the coming weeks.

As a result, Uber’s teen accounts are expanding beyond location tracking to include live video viewing. Whether it can be used in practice depends on driver consent, and video access is limited to the parent or guardian during the ride, conditions that remain central to the feature.