(Q COSTA RICA) Starting Thursday, Uber drivers and their passengers will be required to wear masks before the ride can begin.
The user can cancel the service, without a cancellation fee. Drivers who don’t feel safe or whose customers are not wearing masks are encouraged to cancel their ride.
To enforce the rule, the rideshare company is changing its app to require photo proof that a mask is being worn by the driver. Drivers will have to submit a selfie of themselves in a mask or face covering before starting a shift. Once the app has verified that a mask is being worn in the photo, the driver can start the shift.
Though the mandatory use of a mask on public transit announced Monday by the Minister of Health, as part of the health prevention measures against the spread of COVID-19, does not to extend to Uber and other ride platform services, since they are not deemed a public service.
“With this new technology, it will be verified every day that the collaborating partner is wearing a mask through a selfie, and once they validate it, they will notify the user by means of a message in the Uber app. This new tool only allows the mask to be detected as an object within the photograph, and does not process biometric information,” UBER reported in a press release explaining that this verification system is in place in countries such as Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. and the United States.
