Über is easy, not safe: Delhi cab rape exposes flaws in app-based services For those catching up on the chilling details of the rape of a 27-year-old woman executive in Delhi, its not just the fact that it took place in a metropolis that is distressing, its the fact that it involved a Uber taxi, a taxi booking app that has steadily gained popularity as a safer, posher alternative to the regular kala - peeli taxies that regularly ply the roads of our cities. After all, as the app itself proudly declared, it is everyones private driver. So a white BMW? Yes please. And with it, the automatic assumption that you are safe. That because of smartphone apps and GPS, the company knows who is driving you and where you are. But as the Delhi rape has rudely shown us, this is not the case at all. The young rape survivor in this case, had booked a car using the app and dozed off only to be driven to a desolate location where she was first molested, then threatened with an iron rod, 16 December gangrape style and finally raped. And the driver of the car made a relatively easy getaway, he just switched off the phone that contained the app, rendering him untraceable. It was really that easy. Uber cabs, unlike radio taxi fleet services like Meru or Tab cab, do not have mandatory GPS trackers. They do not actually own the vehicles themselves and therefore have limited say in what features the vehicles must possess. Instead they use the smartphone with the installed Uber app, as the tracking device for the vehicle. A spokesperson for Uber was quoted as saying in a statement that they had immediately suspended the drivers account and said that they worked with licensed driver-partners to provide a safe transportation option, with layers of safeguards such as driver and vehicle information, and ETA-sharing to ensure there is accountability and traceability of all trips that occur on the Uber platform.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 02:06:16 +0000
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