Uber lets parents watch teen rides live via drivers' selfie cameras

Uber is adding live video to its teen accounts: parents in the US will soon be able to watch their child's ride in real time through the front-facing camera on the driver's phone. According to The Verge, Uber has been testing the feature in several markets and will roll it out nationwide over the coming weeks. TechCrunch reports the feature is currently live in nine markets, including Atlanta, Cleveland and Rhode Island, and will reach the entire United States in the same timeframe.

How live video check-ins work

The video feed comes from the selfie camera on the driver's own device rather than a dedicated in-car camera. When a trip begins, the parent or guardian linked to the teen's account receives a push notification if a live stream is available, TechCrunch reports. If they choose to watch, both the driver and the teenager are notified that a parent is tuning in, and the stream cuts off automatically when the ride ends.

According to The Verge, drivers who have opted in to accept underage passengers will now also be asked to grant parents brief access to their selfie cameras, and the notification only goes out if the driver approves. Access is limited to the parent or guardian linked to the teen's account, and only while the trip is active.

Privacy questions remain

Uber frames the feature as a safety measure and says the video is encrypted, with no one — not the driver, the teen or the guardian — able to access the recording once the trip is over. But TechCrunch notes that Uber would not confirm whether that encryption is end-to-end, which would mean Uber itself could not view the footage. A company spokesperson declined to answer when asked.

TechCrunch also points out that other people travelling with the teen have no way to opt out of appearing in the live feed, since viewing rights sit entirely with the linked parent or guardian.

Not Uber's first use of driver cameras

As The Verge notes, this is not the first time Uber has reached for drivers' front-facing cameras. The company already offers an optional Record My Ride feature that records trips using a driver's camera and microphone; Uber says it cannot view those recordings unless a driver chooses to upload one while filing a safety report. The new teen feature differs in that it streams live to a third party — the parent — rather than recording for later use by the driver.

The safety backdrop

Uber launched teen accounts in the US in 2023 and has since expanded them to more than 50 countries, according to TechCrunch. Live video joins a set of existing parental tools, including PIN verification and live GPS tracking, that The Verge says Uber has promoted since the feature debuted.

The rollout lands against a difficult backdrop for the company. The Verge reports that Uber is currently facing more than 4,000 active sexual assault and misconduct lawsuits filed by passengers in state and federal courts, many involving alleged assaults by drivers. Uber says drivers must maintain top ratings and clean safety records to qualify for teen trips.

Why it matters

The feature shows ridehail platforms repositioning in-car cameras as child-safety infrastructure rather than purely driver-side tools — effectively turning a participating driver's phone into a monitoring endpoint for someone who is not in the car. For parents, it adds oversight beyond a GPS pin; for drivers, it adds another consent decision on top of accepting underage riders. The unresolved encryption question matters too: if the stream is not end-to-end encrypted, it is unclear who else could theoretically access live footage, particularly since passengers other than the teen cannot opt out of appearing on camera. How Uber handles those tensions will likely shape whether live ride monitoring becomes a standard expectation across the industry.