DiDi Rider

Is DiDi Rider safe to use?

For most trips, yes, with fewer worries than DiDi's Chinese app. DiDi Rider is the app DiDi uses outside China, in Mexico and other Latin American countries as well as Australia and New Zealand, and it has none of the record-breaking data fine that hit its parent. It is still a data-hungry ride app: it shares device IDs for advertising, records in-app calls and messages, and was fined in New South Wales in 2024 after a safety audit found gaps in its driver checks. We score it 52/100, well above DiDi in China (41) and a little below inDrive (54).

The app is published by DiDi Mobility Information Technology Pte. Ltd. in Singapore and rated 4+ on the App Store. In Mexico, where it has more than 650,000 App Store ratings, the same app is sold as "DiDi: Viajes, Comida y Pagos". In Brazil DiDi runs a different app, 99, which we score separately.

How DiDi Rider differs from DiDi in China

In July 2022 the Cyberspace Administration of China fined DiDi Global RMB 8.026 billion, about $1.2 billion, for illegal data collection by its Chinese apps. That decision, and the 18 months of app-store removals before it, did not name DiDi Rider. Under our rules a parent-company fine that does not name the app is context only, so it costs DiDi Rider a few points rather than defining its score.

The difference is real in practice. Each country has its own operating company and privacy policy. In Australia and New Zealand, for example, the data controller is Didi Mobility (Australia) Pty Ltd or DiDi Mobility (New Zealand) Limited, bound by those countries' privacy laws.

What DiDi Rider collects and shares

Apple's label for DiDi Rider is short on tracking but long on linked data. Only the device ID is listed as used to track you across other companies' apps. Linked to your identity are precise and coarse location, name, email, phone number, contacts, photos or videos, audio data, your user ID, product interaction and crash data, plus your physical address for personalisation.

Google Play lists what leaves DiDi. Device IDs are shared with other companies for advertising, and payment info, credit score and other financial info are shared for fraud prevention, security and compliance. The credit-score line is unusual for a ride app and reflects DiDi's payment and lending services in Latin America.

The Australian privacy policy, last updated in April 2026, adds two things riders should know. First, if you call or message your driver through the app, DiDi records those communications, voice and text, and uses them for safety, quality checks, fraud prevention and analysis. Second, DiDi may pass your data to group companies and service providers overseas, without naming the countries. That is why privacy sits at 42, a little above Uber and inDrive at 40.

Driver checks and rider safety

The clearest independent look at DiDi Rider comes from Australia. In September 2024 the New South Wales Point to Point Transport Commissioner said a safety audit had led to fines of more than A$97,000. DiDi was convicted of two offences of failing to ensure a driver was eligible to drive, with A$15,400 in court fines, and received more than A$82,000 in penalty notices for failing to report notifiable occurrences, the safety incidents providers must tell the regulator about. The Commissioner directed DiDi to improve how it onboards and re-checks drivers, and said DiDi had complied.

That finding is why scams and harmful content is 48 rather than 50. The app has the expected tools: trip sharing, an emergency button, hidden phone numbers and audio recording that you switch on yourself. What it lacks, like most ride apps outside the US, is a published count of serious incidents in its main markets.

Security

We found no reported breach of DiDi Rider accounts and no regulator decision about its security. Google Play says data is encrypted in transit, and DiDi's group runs a security response centre that takes vulnerability reports, though we could not confirm that it covers the international app. Login works with a phone number and a one-time code; there is no authenticator option. Security scores 55.

How to ride DiDi more safely

1. Match the plate, car model and driver's photo with the app before you get in, and cancel and report any mismatch.
2. Turn on trip audio recording in the safety settings if you want evidence of the ride itself.
3. Keep calls and messages inside the app, knowing DiDi records them.
4. Share the trip with a trusted contact on late or long rides.
5. Refuse tracking when iOS asks, and deny contacts access unless you split payments or share trips with contacts.

How we scored it

Regulatory record (78) is the strongest factor: one small passenger-safety fine in New South Wales, with the Chinese fine on DiDi's domestic apps counted as context. Privacy (42) is the weakest, because device IDs are shared for advertising, credit-score data is shared for fraud checks and in-app chats are recorded. Scams and harmful content (48) reflects the NSW findings on driver eligibility and incident reporting.