China's Didi reforms hitch service after murder case

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Four days after the murderer of a passenger using the services of Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing was found dead, Didi released a series of reforms and optimizations for its hitch service.

Didi's reform and optimization measures for its hitch service. / DiDi's Weibo screenshot

The company has decided to remove the ability to label passengers and drivers in the app, as well as the ability to leave comments. Passengers can only see their own personal information, and the driver must use face recognition before they drop off their passengers. All of these changes minimize the possibility of privacy leaks.

Didi's hitch service will be suspended from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. If a trip finishes after 10 p.m, before departure, the driver and passenger have to make a safety prompt. Also, building on the app's original emergency functions, users can quickly call 110, 120, 122 and other 24-hour security service numbers.

Didi suggests that each car should have a recording device monitoring every trip, in case of disputes or criminal actions. The data will not be saved in personal cell phones, but will be directly uploaded to a Didi server, where it will remain for only 72 hours.

According to Beijing’s Chinacourt.org, Didi drivers have been involved in several criminal cases across the country in the past three years. These cases include murder, robbery, intent to deliberately harm, fraud, theft and others. However, only a small amount of criminal cases involving Didi drivers are known to the public.

Before the measures to reform and optimize its hitch service, Didi has never improved the way drivers get examined, nor has it tried to reduce the number of crimes their drivers have committed.

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