Sorry, passengers, Uber will no longer play the accidental matchmaker.
Since two days ago the ride-booking app started assigning generic phone numbers to both passengers and drivers “so both sides can communicate with each other to coordinate a pick-up without revealing their personal phone numbers.” A spokesperson for Uber says it’s “something our community has been requesting for a while.”
However, we foresee a barrage of complaints from penny pinchers because the caller gets charged as soon the other party rings and the call is redirected, which could take a few seconds.
For phone calls, the number assigned to both passenger and driver is +65 3163-XXXX, while all text messages will appear to come from +65 9854-XXXX.
Uber calls it “safety innovation”, but we all know that’s just a tech geek term for “anti-stalker mode”.
So next time you want to hit on your driver or passenger, do the decent and non-creepy thing, just ask for their number in person.
