All US Driver Partners to Receive In-App Resources to Help Identify and Report Suspected Cases

Pledging its commitment to help end human trafficking, Uber has partnered with ECPAT-USA and other leading organizations to provide education and awareness to ALL driver-partners across the United States.

Human trafficking often affects the most vulnerable in our communities, whether adults, teens, or children. It is a problem that impacts all cities and all forms of transportation. For National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Uber will provide information on trafficking to U.S. drivers via an in-app message. The message includes tips on how to spot potential human trafficking and ways to report it. Additional educational information developed with partners like ECPAT-USA will be made available to drivers on Uber’s website.

“Uber connects millions of people daily all around the globe, and drivers are uniquely positioned to help identify and ultimately prevent human trafficking,” said Tracey Breeden, Uber Safety Communications. “Working together with our national partners, we will utilize our innovation and technology along with the scope and scale of our global community to commit to helping prevent and raise awareness and empower community heroes. Together we can help disrupt and end human trafficking in the cities we serve.”

“As soon as Uber’s Safety team learned about the role they could play in protecting children, they took action,” said Carol Smolenski, Executive Director of ECPAT-USA. “We applaud their commitment to preventing human trafficking of any kind on the platform and sharing educational materials that help prepare drivers to recognize the signs associated with the sexual exploitation of children.”

Since 2016, Uber has worked with ECPAT-USA to develop resources for drivers to help identify and report human trafficking. Uber is the first and only company in the on-demand space to sign The Code, ECPAT-USA’s responsible business initiative to protect children from trafficking. Now, Uber will be proactively providing a way for driver-partners to be aware of and feel comfortable reaching out to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

In December 2016, a Sacramento area driver helped a girl, 16, escape from a human trafficking operation. He noticed suspicious behavior during a trip and reported it to police. From Phoenix to Philadelphia, drivers have been credited with helping break up operations and aiding victims of human trafficking.

Visit Uber’s human trafficking driver resource page.

Meet Keith, the Uber driver-partner whose awareness and quick thinking helped him save a 16-year-old girl from trafficking.