Uber is deploying an interesting new feature related to teen accounts. Rather than FaceTiming a teen while they're taking a trip, parents and guardians will be able to view a live video feed from the selfie camera on the driver's phone and get a broader look inside the vehicle. Uber says the aim is to help give parents some piece of mind.

When a teen is taking a trip, their designated guardian will receive a push notification if the live feed is available. The driver may be prompted to mount their phone and make sure it has a clear view of the back seat. The parent or guardian can start watching with a tap, and the teen and driver will both be notified. The feed ends when the trip does. Uber says that only a parent or guardian whose account is linked to the teen's will be able to view the stream.

Uber

Neither the teen, parent or driver will be able to access a recording of the video after the trip is completed. Uber will store an encrypted recording, which is automatically deleted after 14 days unless a safety report is submitted. The company says it can only use a decryption key to access a recording if it needs to look into an incident. In such cases, Uber will hang onto the recording (potentially for longer than 14 days) in line with its data retention policies.

Uber is running a pilot of this feature in nine locations: Atlanta, Phoenix, Orlando, Raleigh-Durham, Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland, Rhode Island and El Paso. It plans to make this live video tool available across the US in the coming weeks.