Grab Malaysia has made it compulsory for first-time users of the app to take a selfie of themselves as a form of digital identification before booking their first ride.
The company says this a safety measure put in place to protect its drivers. To safeguard Grab’s drivers in Malaysia, the company has also updated its app so that the drivers’ details will be wiped from passengers’ usage logs three days after a ride.
These changes come nearly a year after the gruesome murder of one Grab driver in Kuala Lumpur last June. The company has also made it clear that it is aware of cases where drivers were subjected to various forms of abuse, including attempted robbery, sexual harassment, and even physical assault inflicted by passengers. It remains unclear how one-time headshot identification will protect Grab Malaysia’s drivers from further attacks.
Editor: Brady Ng