Uber is offering an in-app safety feature allowing drivers and riders in three Alabama cities to record audio during trips.

Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Auburn are seeing the new feature today, which can be set up in the app’s safety toolkit. Once enabled, the feature gives riders and drivers the option to record audio during a trip by tapping the blue shield icon on the map screen and hitting “Start” on the “Record Audio” option.

Drivers and riders can start or stop an audio recording at any point during a trip. Unless ended manually by the user, the recording will stop shortly after the trip is completed.

Once a recording is completed, the file is encrypted and stored directly on the rider or driver’s device. To help protect privacy, no one will be able to listen to the recording, including Uber, unless a driver or rider submits a safety report to Uber and attaches the encrypted audio file.

Then the file will be decrypted and a trained safety agent will be able to review the submitted audio, Uber says. The audio, along with other incident information, can help Uber determine the best course of action.

The feature is also being offered in other cities after piloting in Louisville, Kansas City, Nashville, San Antonio, Salt Lake City, among other locations. It was originally launched in Latin America in 2019.

Andi Pimentel Dunn, product manager at Uber, said the tool will hopefully “give riders and drivers peace of mind and encourage more comfortable interactions while on trips.”

To learn more about how it works, click here.