A Kerala woman was shocked when a cab driver texted her asking her something she felt uncomfortably sharing with him. A man named Muhammed Mishal, who identified himself as an Uber driver, messaged a female passenger on WhatsApp and asked her what perfume she used on her body. "Do u remember me? Can u just say which spray are u using?", he wrote.
Smriti Kannan, who previously booked Muhammed's cab for a ride from her house to a shop in Edappally, Kochi, reported the incident on X and questioned the privacy settings on the cab booking app.
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Uber driver messages Kerala woman on WhatsApp
It all started after Kannan received a "Hy" message from an unknown number. Wanting to know if it was a genuine person she knew trying to reach out to her, she replied to the WhatsApp text. She only dropped a "Question mark (?)" when replying to Muhammed's "Hy" message.
Later in the conversation, the Uber driver asked whether she remembered him. He pointed out that he knew her from a cab ride. He informed Kannan that she was his passenger recently and dropped her at a nail shop in Edapally after accepting her booking from Kathrikadavu.
The chats suggested the woman blocked the Uber driver, but the action didn't bother him. "Eyy block Akiko (Hey, block me)", read his text seconds after she mentioned about blocking him.
Passenger questions Uber privacy settings
Kannan shared screenshots of the WhatsApp chat on X drawing the attention of Uber to address the issue and work on ensuring better privacy for women and passengers in general.
"WHAT THE FUCK @Uber_India how bad are your privacy settings? An uber driver messages me on WhatsApp and asks me creepy questions. Seriously how safe are women???", she posted.
Her post has gone viral and received more than one lakh views.
Netizens react
Netizens echoed Kannan's voice and asked Uber India to immediately look into the privacy concerns raised by the user.
"That’s absolutely unacceptable. Passenger privacy and safety should be non-negotiable. Uber_India needs to address this immediately, enforce stricter policies, and ensure such breaches never happen. Women’s safety isn’t optional—it’s a fundamental right", one wrote.
"Uber_India has hired maximum creeps. I have stopped using it. Its almost like they have reservations for perverts in their company", said another.
Uber responds
A spokesperson of Uber told the Free Press Journal the driver in this case resorted to an UPI platform through which the passenger paid him for the ride and highlighted the app secures crucial information provided by users.
“Phone numbers for riders and drivers are anonymized on all Uber trips and the number can not be accessed through the Uber platform. In this case, the driver accessed the rider’s number through the UPI app used for payment. Uber strictly prohibits post-trip contact, and as this violates our community guidelines, the driver’s access to our platform has been revoked, " said the official.
Take a look at more reactions
Meanwhile, a few comments differed and suggested the driver was either passionate about perfumes or helping the woman if she left her spray in his vehicle.
"Maybe he’s just checking whether the spray he found in his car belongs to you or not. Public shaming with zero context is as bad as committing an alleged crime. But, hey, anything for clout, right? Right?", read a comment.
"Spray batake block kar deti..i get asked so many times what perfume m wearing", another added.
