Uber Enacts Stricter Background Checks for Drivers

Uber announced sweeping changes to its background checks on Friday after a New York Times investigation in December revealed how the ride-hailing giant’s policies allowed for drivers with many types of criminal convictions, including violent felonies.Previously, the company had barred drivers convicted of murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and terrorism.But in 22 states, The Times found, the company had approved people convicted of most other crimes — including violent felonies, child abuse, assault and stalking — if the convictions were at least seven years old.In multiple cases, Uber cleared drivers with violent felony convictions who were later accused of sexually assaulting passengers, The Times found.The company now is expanding the list of criminal offenses that permanently disqualify a driver in the United States.

Uber will bar drivers with prior convictions for violent felonies and crimes that are sexual in nature, as well as stalking and strangulation-related offenses — at any point in their lives.Uber also is extending the time period for its background checks for all new drivers.Previously, background checks in 35 states were based on where a person had lived in the prior seven years.

The result was that a crime that happened elsewhere could go unnoticed.Now they will be based on anywhere the driver has ever lived.

Current drivers will undergo a new background check each year.The changes also apply to couriers for Uber’s delivery services, such as Uber Eats.In a blog post published Friday, Uber said that it had consulted with leaders in civil rights and women’s safety groups to update the company’s criminal background check policies to “better align with today’s expectations.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Tim...