There is a new taxi app available for Nairobians looking to take rides within the city named Showfa.
Showfa is competing with other apps such as Little, Uber, and Bolt, but it operates under a unique business model that differs from its competitors.
The app requires drivers of taxis and motorbikes to pay a subscription fee on a daily or monthly basis, rather than being charged a commission per ride like other similar platforms.
READ MORE: NTSA Adds Farasi and Hava App to List of Approved e-Taxi Services in Kenya
During the launch, Dhruv Rajah, the Business Development Director of Showfa, mentioned that they conducted market research and discovered that drivers were paying excessive commissions to foreign companies. He further stated that the platform’s primary objective was to prioritize the satisfaction of both the drivers and the riders and offer superior services to customers.
However, Showfa appears to have been rushed to market without adequate testing. Many customers have reported issues with app stability, smoothness, and overall UI/UX missteps.
Although it has a rating of 3.9 on Google Play, the comments are not positive, and it is unclear how the app’s team plans to address these complaints and make the app more secure.
The app’s security is a concern as it does not encrypt data, nor is data transmitted over a secure connection. Encryption of data in taxi apps is a crucial security measure that ensures the protection of sensitive information exchanged between drivers and passengers. Showfa must encrypt user data such as personal information, payment details, and location data during transmission between the user’s device and the app’s servers, as well as when stored on the servers. This helps to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data by hackers or other malicious actors who may try to intercept or steal this information.
Furthermore, unlike other taxi apps, Showfa does not allow customers to delete their data from their servers.
This lack of privacy control is concerning, and the app’s privacy policy appears to have been copied from Little App’s policy without replacing the company name.
If the app’s team fails to address these issues, there is no need for customers to sign up and log in with their private information, which can be accessed by skilled hackers and used for fraudulent purposes.
