Uber Drivers' fingerprints may soon be used to track down the right drivers who deserve to be behind the wheels. In a move to check the background of Uber drivers, Austin and Los Angeles are now pushing to make screening tougher.
The world's busiest airport, the Atlanta planned to use Uber Drivers' fingerprints to trace their criminal records, but the riding-sharing company claimed that their monitoring of drivers was enough, according to Fox News. A district attorney in San Francisco on the other hand attacked their record checking claiming their procedure is completely worthless because the drivers aren't fingerprinted. Houston officials have found that Uber drivers without fingerprints could escape their bad records even they were charged with sexual assault, murder, and other crimes.
"Public safety is our No. 1 priority - that's something the city of Houston does not compromise on," said Lara Cottingham, Houston's deputy assistant director of administration and regulatory affairs. "That's the reason we license any vehicle for hire."
Meanwhile Venture Beat reported that Atlanta city council may consider the use of Lyft and Uber drivers' fingerprints to check their backgrounds. The San Francisco-based ride-booking firm said in a statement that they've signed a deal with more than 50 U.S airports of not requiring the Uber drivers' fingerprints to check their backgrounds. Other major airport hubs that were reportedly not asking for the driver's fingerprints were Denver; Memphis, Charlotte, North Carolina; Tennessee; Los Angeles; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
Back in December 2014, a lawsuit was filed against Uber over its way of background check, Lubbock Online claims. "Uber's process cannot ensure that the information in the background check report is actually associated with the applicant since it does not use a unique biometric identifier such as a fingerprint," the lawsuit said.
The New York airport is already requiring Uber drivers' fingerprints for background check. The nation's fourth biggest metro, Houston was the first airport to oblige Uber drivers' fingerprints for background checking. It started in 2014. Los Angeles has announced earlier this month that they are asking the lawmakers to permit the same program.
