Uber Canada says that he has updated his security protocols for emergency situations after an incident in March where the company’s representatives refused to contact a driver after he left with a child.
Julia Viscomi said that Uber customer customer service refused to help her or Toront reported in April.
The police ended up finding the child without receiving the help from Uber, about an hour and a half after the driver left, Viscomi said.
“While our standard protocol for serious security incidents orders that only the trained police must initiate contact with a driver, we recognize that exceptional circumstances, such as the incident on March 10, 2025, may require that first -line customer service agents intervene and facilitate communication,” Uber Canada said in a statement on Friday.
“As a result, we have updated our internal procedures to reflect this important clarification.”
This update is immediately effective, the company confirmed to CBC Toronto.
Viscomi said he was “absolutely euphoric” for change.
“There had been nothing [but] Silence of the city of Toronto and Uber during the last time, so I knew things were working, but I didn’t know to what extent, “he said.
“This was a very happy surprise.”
‘Our answer could and should have been better’
Michael Van Hemmen, general manager of Uber Canada Rides, wrote a letter to Viscomi dated Thursday, apologizing for the incident.
“Our answer could and should have been better, since our policies were not built taking into account this type of circumstance,” he wrote in the letter, provided to CBC Toronto.
He said that internal updates “recognize that in exceptional circumstances, such as the one involved in his son, time is essential.”
After the Uber representatives did not contact the driver, Viscomi said he called 911. An officer called Uber to obtain contact information for the driver, but said that a representative of the shared travel company refused to provide it, stating that the police needed to complete a form.
Uber guidelines for the application of the law say that emergency dissemination requests must be submitted through the company’s public security response portal or by email using its emergency dissemination form.
After a terrifying incident that involved an Uber trip and his little daughter, a woman from GTA says that Uber customer service refused to contact the driver involved. Police told CBC Toronto that they traced the driver without the help of the shared travel company.
Keerthana Ranga spokesman said that Uber Canada’s support team followed the standard protocols during the incident and advised the driver to contact the police.
A Toronto Police officer submitted a request through the Public Security Response Portal on the night of the incident, he told Radio-Canada on Friday.
Uber Canada responded with an identification information about the driver, but Toronto police took a little more than an hour to obtain this information, he said, which led the company to initiate an internal review to review its existing processes and improvement identity opportunities.
Toronto Police confirmed in April that they found the child without the help of Uber Canada.
In Friday’s statement, Uber Canada said that the Toronto Police has provided a “complete description of how Uber handles emergency applications.”
The company said it distributed internal reference materials and spoke at a monthly meeting of higher officers. The training in person with officers on the public security and Portal team of Uber has been scheduled for autumn.
Uber Canada said he also met with the main leadership of the Division of Licenses and Municipal Standards of the city of Toronto to discuss the incident.
CBC Toronto has communicated with the city of Toronto to comment.
Uber Canada said that it has also implemented other updates to security protocols and operational procedures, but cannot reveal them “to protect and the operational integrity and safety of our security systems.”
