Uber announced several updates to its platform on Wednesday, introducing a new family profile system that allows parents and guardians to manage and pay for rides for teenagers aged 13 to 17. The features, developed in collaboration with the nonprofit Safe Kids Worldwide, are designed to centralize trip monitoring and payment for family members.
The company first introduced teen accounts in the U.S. in 2023 and has since expanded the service to more than 50 countries. This latest update integrates existing safety features, such as audio recording and GPS tracking, into a unified family dashboard that allows guardians to communicate with drivers who meet specific eligibility requirements for transporting minors.
A key addition to the platform is a live ride-streaming feature, which allows a linked parent or guardian to view a trip in real-time through the driver's selfie camera. When a stream is initiated, both the driver and the teenager are notified. Uber stated that the video is encrypted and becomes inaccessible to the driver, passenger, and guardian once the ride concludes, though the company did not specify if the encryption is end-to-end.
On a broader scale, the new features represent an expansion of the gig economy's specialized services for minors and parents. The introduction of "Uber Car Seat" in New York and Los Angeles specifically targets households with younger children, offering vehicles equipped with Nuna RAVA car seats designed for children weighing 5 to 65 pounds. These additions place Uber in direct competition with traditional transportation methods for students and children, while setting a new technological precedent for real-time video surveillance during shared rides.
For the general public, Uber is also launching a phone-based booking service (1-833-USE-UBER) for those who do not use smartphones, and a "Group Rides" feature that automatically splits fares among multiple invited passengers. The company has not provided a specific deadline for the full rollout to all U.S. and Canadian markets but indicated it would occur over the "coming weeks and months." These changes follow a period of increased scrutiny as members of the U.S. Senate have previously pressured rideshare companies regarding safety protections.