Uber says it will start doing annual criminal background checks on US drivers and introduces new in-app features, like button to call 911, to protect riders
DETROIT (AP) — Uber will start doing annual criminal background checks on U.S. drivers and hire a company that constantly monitors criminal arrests …
Context & Ripple Effects
This April 2018 announcement is Uber's first public commitment to moving beyond one-time driver vetting: annual criminal re-checks plus a hired firm for constant arrest monitoring, paired with in-app tools like a 911 button. Months later the company formalized the monitoring piece through a partnership running continuous background checks using real-time Appriss data via Checkr.
The move set a template competitors felt compelled to match — Lyft rolled out its own continuous checks within a year — while later reporting showed the system's limits: an investigation found Uber approving drivers with old violent-felony convictions across 22 states, which eventually forced a broadened disqualification list.
First-order effects
- US drivers now face recurring criminal re-screening rather than a single upfront check, putting anyone with a new arrest or conviction at immediate risk of deactivation.
- Riders get direct in-app emergency access — the 911 button — reducing reliance on calling dispatch or waiting for support.
Second-order effects
- Lyft is pushed into matching the safety stack, rolling out continuous driver background checks of its own so vetting depth stops being a differentiator between the two platforms.
- Background-screening vendors like Checkr and Appriss gain a recurring-revenue role in ride-hailing, as continuous monitoring replaces one-time reports as the industry standard purchase.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, driver-vetting standards converge industry-wide on continuous monitoring — but coverage gaps persist where state law allows older convictions, leaving room for investigations and later policy expansions like Uber's eventual widening of its disqualifying-convictions list.
- Safety features shift from optional PR to table stakes that regulators and plaintiffs treat as the expected baseline, raising the cost floor for any new rideshare entrant.
The trend: Ride-hailing driver vetting is evolving from one-time checks toward continuous criminal monitoring, with Uber and Lyft ratcheting each other's safety commitments upward over time.