Uber is moving to stricter background checks for drivers after report details hiring of violent criminals

Uber also weighing stricter rules around other serious offenses, such as harassment, restraining-order violations and weapons charges, according to report

Uber is moving to tighten driver background checks after a New York Times investigation exposed serious gaps in its screening policies that allowed people with violent criminal histories to work for the ride-share app, according to a new report.

Under Uber’s policy, people convicted of murder, sexual assault, kidnapping, and terrorism were barred from driving. But the Times investigation, published in December, found in 22 states the company had approved drivers with other serious convictions, including child abuse, assault and stalking, as long as those crimes happened at least seven years prior.

Internal documents, reported by The Times in August, showed that from 2017 to 2022, Uber received reports from U.S. riders about every eight minutes, totaling more than 400,000 trips linked to complaints of sexual assault or misconduct. This figure far exceeded the 12,522 cases disclosed in Uber’s 2022 safety report for the same period.

Now, Uber plans to permanently ban drivers with convictions for violent felonies, sexual offenses and child or elder abuse or endangerment, no matter how long ago the crimes occurred, The Times reported Thursday.

The company is also weighing stricter rules around other serious offenses, such as harassment, restraining-order violations and weapons charges. People with these convictions are still generally allowed to drive for Uber if the crime happened seven years prior.

Uber reportedly plans to permanently ban drivers with convictions for violent felonies, sexual offenses and child or elder abuse or endangerment, no matter how long ago the crimes occurred (Getty Images)

Details on when and how these changes will be implemented remain unclear.

Uber declined The Times’ request to detail the policy changes, but said it is continually updating its safety approach. The company defended its overall safety record, saying that 99.9 percent of rides occur without incident.

Uber previously argued that limiting felony disqualifications to the past seven years “strikes the right balance between protecting public safety and giving people with older criminal records a chance to work and rebuild their lives,” according to The Times.

The Independent has contacted Uber for comment.

After The Times published its investigation in December, Uber responded on its website, saying most of the reported incidents were non-physical and less serious, such as unwanted flirting or staring. The “vast majority” of complaints did not involve physical contact, Uber’s Head of Safety for the Americas, Hannah Nilles, wrote in a statement at the time.

Internal documents reportedly show Uber received sexual misconduct reports every eight minutes from 2017 to 2022, totaling 400,000 trips, far more than the 12,522 cases in its 2022 safety report (AFP via Getty Images)

Uber said that 99.99 percent of trips end without incident, and that reports of sexual misconduct or assault made up about 0.006 percent of the 6.3 billion U.S. trips taken between 2017 and 2022. The most serious cases were even rarer, accounting for about 1 in 5 million trips.

However, most reports during that period came from women, who made up 89 percent of survivors, according to Uber’s last safety report in 2022. The company has not released another report since.

The Times documents in August also revealed patterns in reported incidents, including that they were more likely to occur late at night, on weekends and near bars.

Uber has implemented safety tools such as GPS-based RideCheck, which monitors whether rides stay on course, and the Follow My Ride feature, which allows riders to share trips with loved ones. Still, the company acknowledges that no single feature can fully prevent unpredictable incidents.

Uber is facing over 3,000 pending lawsuits, mostly related to sexual assault and misconduct by drivers. Many of these cases are now part of federal multi-district litigation. Earlier this month, a federal jury in Phoenix ordered Uber to pay $8.5 million to a passenger raped by a driver, deeming the driver an agent of the rideshare company in a verdict that could influence thousands of verdicts nationwide.