DENVER (KDVR) — A ride-sharing company is now offering an added safety feature for riders and drivers in the Denver metro area.

Uber announced its implementation of the audio recording option in the app. Denver is one of several new cities the company launched the new feature.

Riders and drivers can add the safety feature in the app’s Safety Toolkit section. After it’s enabled, the option to “record audio” can be initiated by hitting “start.” Both parties can begin or end a recording at any time during a trip. The feature automatically shuts off after a trip is completed.

“We’re committed to investing in innovative technology to enhance safety on the platform. We hope that by expanding this tool, we can continue to help give riders and drivers peace of mind and encourage more comfortable interactions while on trips,” Andi Pimentel Dunn, product manager at Uber, said in a release.

The company said the technology protects both parties’ privacy by encrypting every recording file and storing it on the device of the person who enabled it. Uber does not have access to it unless one of the parties submits an issue and attaches it.

“From the start, our goal was to design this feature in a way that keeps the recordings secure and protects the privacy of all parties involved,” Uber’s Head of Privacy and Security Public Policy Uttara Sivaram said. “That’s why we built this feature to immediately encrypt the audio file and store it directly on the user’s phone, ensuring that no one, not even Uber, is able to access the recording unless a user submits it to us to review. And if a driver chooses to enable this feature, it sends a message to the rider, alerting them that audio may be recorded during their trip.”

The audio recording feature is available in more than a dozen countries, and over 70 cities in the U.S., the company said in the release. Not everyone in the Denver metro has the option available immediately, but the company said in the coming days users will receive an email about the new feature.