Didi passengers debate privacy issues
Ride-hailing giant rolls out A/V recording to enhance safety
China’s leading ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing has recently launched functions to record audio and video on its online ride-hailing service in more than 10 Chinese cities.
The move, however, has sparked heated online discussion over whether the surveillance measure will help boost the safety of passengers or it infringes on personal privacy.
As of noon on Tuesday, an online survey launched by Didi over its platform on whether the interior space of the online ride-hailing vehicle is private or public has attracted over 310,000 respondents, with more than 220,000 people voting in favor of it being public space.
As for installing recording equipment in online ride-hailing vehicles, over 36,000 of the participants chose to back the idea, while over 24,000 feel that audio and visual recordings might be an invasion of privacy.
“Passengers come and go, therefore, the online ride-hailing vehicle tends to be a relatively public environment,” said Zhang Yue, a Didi user from the city of Chengdu, capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, who agreed that it was a good idea to install cameras in the vehicles.
It would be more convenient to find lost items or to solve any dispute between drivers and passengers with the help of the recording data collected by Didi, said Zhang.
A Didi user with the screen name Kanglongyouhui is also in favor of Didi’s move, saying security should be the top priority. The recording equipment would serve as a guarantee for both passengers and drivers, and it could also deter potential criminals, the user said.
However, some Didi users expressed concern over possible infringement of personal privacy.
“The interior space of the vehicle is owned by me when I use an online ride-hailing service,” said a citizen surnamed Wang from Zhengzhou, Central China’s Henan Province.
Wang said that now he cannot get access to the online ride-hailing service if he refuses the use of audio and visual recordings on the app over his smartphone. “To some extent, it’s an invasion of privacy. Didi users should have the right to choose if they are to be recorded or not.”
Didi staffer Sun Heng said the new measure was rolled out for security reasons and to help avoid misjudgments when there are disputes.
If there is a dispute, Didi will review the recordings, which can provide important evidence after being approved by the passengers, Sun explained.
To protect users’ privacy, the recorded data will be encrypted and saved on the device for seven days. If no dispute occurs within seven days, the data will be automatically removed, Sun said.
Sun said that the final results of the online discussion will provide a reference for Didi to formulate relatively reasonable rules and solutions.
As a significant step toward strengthening safety supervision, Didi has activated the audio recording function nationwide and will continue to expand the visual recording function across the country.
Liu Ruisheng, an associate researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said there is no con- tradiction between emphasizing security and protecting privacy. However, Didi cannot force consumers to accept the audio and visual recordings, and their options should be guaranteed.
Didi ought to have a detailed procedure for data processing to ensure data security and should ask for passengers’ permission before starting the recording function, Liu said.
As China’s largest mobile ride-hailing platform, Didi offers a wide range of app-based transportation options for 550 million users worldwide, with about 30 million rides each day.
However, the murder of a young female passenger by her Didi driver in August in Wenzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, the second such case in three months, raised public concern over the platform’s capability to ensure safety.
China’s Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Public Security ordered Didi to rectify its operating systems so as to ensure the safety of its services and protect the legitimate rights and interests of passengers.