The Surrey police department in the UK admitted on Twitter that they had misused Waze to promote road safety. In response, many alleged that they were violating UK and Waze regulations by employing phantom units.
Surrey Police is Facing Public Strife for Misusing Waze
On August 30, The Guardian (via Engadget) reported that the police force of Surrey in the United Kingdom has disclosed that it has been misleading motorists to promote safe driving.
On Twitter, they admitted that they had inaccurately reported their whereabouts using the Waze app. In instances like this, it would seem like the officers are in a stationary location to inspect on driver's road speed, although in reality, they are just passing by an avenue.
As a result of such, many expressed their disapproval by pointing out that the police's tactics that use "Phantom Units" go against the UK Computer Misuse Act and Waze's policy regarding false information.
Despite being in the middle of this issue, as a result of their public confession, Surrey police assert that the technique works well in making drivers slow down.
In response to the accusations thrown their way, they tweeted again, saying, "Technically not false though. We are there at that particular point in time," with a smirking emoji. They justified their actions by pointing out that there has no specific rule in Waze that says they have to be stationary.
They said that the lack of police to enforce traffic regulations led to their choice to use the technique. In March 2022, 4,102 full-time police officers were on duty in England and Wales, which is lower than it was way back in 2007, according to the UK Home Department.
When asked for a statement concerning this issue, Waze's management did not provide a comment immediately; only after the controversy blew up did they give their take on the matter. According to them, even though the police department's intentions were good, it still made people lose trust in their platform. With this, they are still looking into it and pondering ways to approach the issue.
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Waze Will Terminate Its Carpooling Service in September
In line with the mentioned issue involving Waze, the platform has recently announced that it will no longer make its Carpooling service available.
The Google-owned platform said on Thursday, August 25, that it is shutting down its Carpooling application. For the past six years, the software has been matching drivers with commuters that are heading towards the same location as them.
Waze's Carpooling service does not make riders earn an additional income for bringing riders to their destinations but instead allows them to save gas and receive little reimbursements.
Its decision was driven by how the demand for carpools fluctuated amidst the health crisis brought by Covid-19. So, in September, users from Brazil, the US, and Israel will longer have access to the app's service.
In a statement Waze has provided to The Verge, it said, "While Waze was predominantly a commuting app pre-COVID, today the proportion of errands and travel drives have surpassed commutes."
The restrictions and risks of the pandemic made several people opt to work and stay at home, causing a reduction in carpooling demand. However, the pre-pandemic level of public transits, including carpools, has not yet returned, although the pandemic situation is improving.
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