Ride-hailing service Uber has announced passengers who have violated the company’s mask mandate will soon be required to take a selfie proving they are wearing a mask before ordering future trips.
Uber has required that both passengers and drivers wear masks since May and while most have, not everyone has complied, the company says.
“If we do have people who are still violating the policy, we want to be able to verify them with an extra step,” Uber’s senior director of product management, Sachin Kansal, told ABC. “And if they’re not wearing a mask, they will not be able to take a ride.”
Riders with past violations will be asked by the app to take a selfie when attempting to request a ride. Not only can the software detect a mask, but according to Uber, it can even detect whether the mask is pulled up above a person’s nose.
The company says if certain individuals continue to violate policy, they may be banned from the service altogether.
“If we find that riders or drivers have been in violation of the policy, we will first educate them,” Kansal explained. “We will send them emails. We want to make sure that they actually understand what the policy is. But if we see repeat violation, then we can take further action, including taking them off the platform.”