Woman urges others not to use real name on delivery service apps following scary experience

A woman is urging others not to give their real names when using delivery service apps after a scary experience with a driver.

Food delivery services like Uber Eats are a mod-con that many wouldn’t go without, but for women, there could be unexpected dangers that arise when simply ordering a takeaway.

TikToker Olivia Ponton shared her warning in a viral TikTok, detailing the terrifying experience she had when making an order and urging other women to make changes to the information on their apps for their own safety.

She began the video by suggesting: “Never put your real name or a photo of yourself on Uber, Uber Eats, Lyft, Doordash, any of it. Let this be your sign…

“Change it to a guy’s name: Jason, Jake, John. Anything. And just delete the photo.”

Ponton explained she was left “shaking in my literal boots” for twenty minutes after her delivery driver allegedly wouldn’t stop banging on her door.

“He was covering the little peephole with the bag so I couldn’t see who it was,” she claimed, “I couldn’t even match up the photo on Uber Eats with him.”

She concluded: “We’re not safe out here.”

In the comments, other women revealed their troubling experiences and also gave their tips on how to ward off people who have “bad intentions”.

“This happened to me. I had a scary experience with Uber Eats once and since then put a picture of a stop sign on my account,” one person shared.

Someone else claimed: “Me with the Uber Eats driver who wouldn’t leave my building today for almost an hour just pacing between my apartment and my other neighbours (both girls as well).”

One person alleged: “The one time I used Uber Eats my driver stood outside my house for 15 mins after I already got my food. It was lowkey scary.”

Another added: “Right, it’s horrible we have to do this but good advice. Same with putting a pair of men’s shoes at your front door…just wards off people with bad intentions.”

Others said they had taken her advice and changed their settings.

“Wait, just changed everything. Thank you,” one wrote.

Another said: “I just changed mine thank you.”

How much information do food delivery drivers have?

In order to successfully deliver items to a person’s door, a delivery driver will have access to a certain amount of information about the order.

This will include data such as the name under the account or order, the location of delivery and the order ID.

According to Deliveroo UK, this is “including but not limited to [a] customers’ name, order ID and location”.

They add that drivers “may only contact a customer about their order, and only while completing a delivery for them”.

In 2023, Uber Eats revealed it was introducing a feature that shows users how much of their information was shared with delivery drivers.

The “View as a Delivery Person” feature allows customers to view exactly what their food courier can see in relation to their order.

“View as a Delivery Person was designed to increase transparency and provide consumers extra peace of mind,” an Uber Eats representative told Insider.

Uber Eats drivers “never see a user’s credit card number, phone number, the rating they give couriers, profile photo, or last name.”

They are able to see the customer’s first name and initial of their surname, an approximate delivery location, the exact delivery location once the delivery is in progress and any customer notes on the order.

indy100 has contacted Uber Eats for comment.

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