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Uber has strengthened the background checks it runs when screening drivers and couriers, following feedback from experts, regulators, and its customer community.
Wider criteria for convictions are now in place that would permanently disqualify someone from driving or delivering with Uber, including “violent felonies and crimes that may be sexual in nature.”
The changes have been welcomed by groups such as The National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), which praised Uber for its “nuanced and thorough approach” that sets an “industry standard that goes beyond state legal requirements.”
Uber strengthens driver background checks
In a post on its website, Uber detailed the improvements it has made to its “rigorous, multi-layer” background checks, describing them as industry-leading.
“Our goal is to build the safest platform,” it said. “We can only achieve that by listening, learning, and adapting to an ever-changing environment. We believe this is a hallmark of a healthy safety culture.”
The ride-hailing app operator maintained that it has operated a longstanding, high-quality screening process for more than a decade, working with experts and lawmakers to establish a process that featured 60 different background check adjudication standards across the US.
But, the post said, Uber’s stance on safety has “never been static.”
“We listen to experts, regulators, lawmakers and our community, and we evolve as their expectations and the world change,” it read. “Since the start of the year, we’ve been consulting with various subject matter experts, including leaders in civil rights and women’s safety, to explore how to update Uber’s criminal background check process in the United States to better align with today’s expectations.”
Individuals wishing to drive or deliver for Uber must now pass an expanded screening process. Any historic stalking and strangulation-related offenses, for example, now disqualify applicants.
These join other lifetime convictions that would disbar an applicant, including sexual assault, kidnapping, or terrorism – and other convictions from the past 7 years, including DUI or drug-related driving offenses.
A conviction in the past three years for driving while uninsured or driving on a suspended, revoked, or invalid license would also disqualify an applicant.
Drivers and couriers for Uber are rescreened every year.
99-year background checks
Uber also expanded its mandate for searches – which are completed through a Social Security background check (SSN trace) – to cover a 99-year timeframe.
This means the company’s third-party background check providers will now need to search county-level records for any address in the applicant’s residence history for their full lifetime, an increase on the seven-year SSN trace previously in place.
Uber works with background screening vendors to manage the process, with each accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) and regulated under federal and state law – “each aim to ensure completeness and accuracy in background checks,” the post stated.
The company also noted a challenge it worked through relating to tenured drivers with past offenses – including warnings from experts that removing drivers with a record of certain offenses could harm their income and potentially increase the likelihood of recidivism.
“We took this feedback seriously, as we understand the real-word impact of these kinds of decisions,” the statement explained. “For longstanding drivers with no serious interpersonal safety-related complaints of any kind, we are making a narrow exception. These drivers may continue earning with Uber if their felony conviction is more than 15 years old and was not sexual in nature.”
The reformed checks are currently being rolled out nationwide. Uber noted that as it flags and records new offenses, it will share information with other ride-hailing platforms.
Reaction to Uber’s screening policy
Uber consulted with various regulators, lawmakers, and expert groups throughout the process, who congratulated the company for its work on improving the strength of its background screening.
“Uber has built a screening policy that protects passengers without abandoning the principle of rehabilitation,” said Ebonie Riley, Senior Vice President at civil rights organization National Action Network (NAN).
Dr Indira Henard, President and CEO at DC Rape Crisis Center, and a member of Uber’s Safety Advisory Board member, commended Uber for its commitment to rigorous background checks and proactive safety measures.
“[Companies] must take concrete, meaningful action to reduce risk and create safer environments for riders and drivers alike, and Uber has done just that,” she stated.
John Pistole, Former Deputy Director of the FBI and Uber Safety Advisory Board member, hailed the “well informed and researched decision by Uber to continue its commitment to the best possible safety and security for all involved.”
Uber is hopeful that its actions will push more organizations to adopt similarly rigorous standards.
Another member of Uber’s Safety Advisory Board, Erica Olsen, AVP of Programs and Partnerships at NNEDV, called on other transportation platforms to be inspired to “move in a similar direction, which could improve safety more broadly for survivors and for all users.”
