For riders, recording automatically stops shortly after the trip ends, while drivers' recordings stop when they go offline. As for privacy, the company said audio recordings are encrypted and stored directly on the user's device and are not accessible to Uber unless a safety report is submitted with the audio file.

Uber provides an integrated In-App Audio Recording feature designed to enhance safety for both riders and drivers, though it does not record automatically unless a user initiates it. When activated via the "Safety Toolkit" (the blue shield icon), the app uses the smartphone's microphone to capture the trip's audio. To protect privacy, the resulting file is fully encrypted and stored locally on the user's device for up to seven days; neither the rider, the driver, nor Uber can listen to it under normal circumstances. Uber can only access and decrypt the recording if a user submits it as part of a formal safety incident report within that seven-day window. While the other party is not notified at the exact moment a recording starts, riders are often given a generic notification when matched with a driver that "audio recording may be in use" on their trip. In some jurisdictions, drivers may also use third-party dashcams that record both audio and video; while Uber encourages drivers to post signs notifying passengers of these cameras, these recordings are managed by the driver, not by Uber's internal software systems.