Our autonomous vehicles are equipped with an advanced suite of sensors — including cameras and microphones — that act as the 'eyes and ears' of our Waymo Driver. We also use artificial intelligence and machine learning models (AI/ML) to help operate our services. We want to be absolutely clear: we do not use facial recognition or other biometric identification technologies to identify individuals.
Cameras inside the car
Cameras are a way for us to make sure your ride goes smoothly. Among other things, we may use cameras to:
- Make sure cars are clean
- Find lost items
- Provide help in case of emergency
- Check that in-car rules are being followed
- Improve products and services
- Promote safety and security
Our Support team may review video under certain circumstances, including after an issue is brought to our attention. Occasionally, in more urgent circumstances, Support may access live video during a trip.
Microphones inside the car
The microphones inside the car are only on during voice calls with Rider Support or when you actively choose to enable microphones inside the car.
Cameras outside the car
Our vision system includes cameras designed to work in long range, in daylight, and in low-light conditions. We use cameras outside the car to see things like whether a traffic light is red or green.
Waymo’s camera system also sees the world in context, as a human would, but with a 360° field of view. Our high-resolution vision system can help us detect important things in the world around us like traffic lights and construction zones.
Microphones outside the car
Waymo vehicles also have a number of sensors, including our audio detection system used to detect police and emergency vehicle sirens. Waymo has implemented technical and procedural safeguards designed to limit the collection of any human voice data from these microphones.
Our view on your privacy
We’re on a mission to be the world's most trusted driver. See Waymo's Services Privacy Policy for complete ride-hailing privacy information.