Taxis may soon be the best monitored objects in Poland – Gazeta learned that Bolt will soon start recording what is happening inside vehicles in our country, and Uber is considering introducing a similar solution. This is supposed to be a way to ensure safety in the car in connection with cases of assaults on (primarily) female passengers, but still this idea raises huge ethical and legal doubts.
Bolt will introduce vehicle interior monitoring
Bolt starts with recording tests next week, for now in four Polish cities (not specified). Poland is to be one of the first countries in the world where the solution was introduced. Only audio will be recorded, and recording will be done through the Bolt app and smartphone microphones. What’s more, “Rz” writes that Bolt will not inform about the fact whether the interior of the vehicle is being listened to.
Recording will not be started automatically, but at the request of the driver or passenger from the app. Regardless of which party starts audio recording, the other party will not receive any notification of this fact. And this arouses great controversy, because it may constitute an infringement of personal rights, the newspaper writes.
Bolt is to introduce several safeguards. First, the recording will automatically end after the trip is completed. The passenger will not be recorded after leaving the car, and the driver will not be recorded during the time between journeys. Secondly, although the recording file will be stored in the device’s memory, it is to be encrypted and unavailable for listening to the smartphone owner. Thirdly, the recording will be automatically deleted from the phone 24 hours after the trip. Bolt himself will also not have access to it until he receives a ticket to the support team. It is in the application that the sound file is to be sewn.
“Rz”: Uber can go a step further. Not only the sound, but also the picture?
Even more controversial, however, is the idea of Uber, which “Rzeczpospolita” described. Uber would equip its vehicles with cameras that would constantly monitor what is happening during journeys.
Uber has been testing or testing such a solution since 2019 in several markets – including in Latin America, USA, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria and France. In the last of these countries, the company spent half a million dollars installing cameras in its drivers’ vehicles that record both the route covered and the image with sound. Uber is currently considering introducing such a function in Poland, but the final decision has not yet been made.
It is not clear on what terms the recording would be carried out (whether the passenger will be able to turn it off), unless, of course, Uber decides to implement such a solution in Poland. The company is still assessing the legal aspects of introducing such a function, which was admitted by its representative.
– Both in Poland and throughout Europe, the subject of audio and video recording raises many interpretation doubts, which is why we are evaluating the possibility of introducing this function. However, we hope that technological solutions will become so popular that they will become a standard for the entire industry, as happened with real-time driver verification – said Michał Konowrocki, managing director for passengers at Uber CEE in an interview with “Rz”.
FreeNow neither confirms nor denies it
“Rzeczpospolita” also contacted the third popular company offering rides via the application – FreeNow. However, its representatives did not want to unequivocally answer whether they are considering introducing monitoring of cars during journeys. They only emphasized that “user comfort” is a “priority” for FreeNow and the company will not tolerate any driver behavior that “affects the sense of security of passengers”.
Source: Gazeta
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