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In Austin, Texas, the city passed an ordinance that private ride-service drivers must provide a fingerprint for a criminal background check. In response to the ordinance, both Uber and Lyft suspended operations in Austin. Other ride service companies have filled the void while Uber and the city remain dug in on their positions. Apparently, the city similarly requires fingerprints for taxi-driver licenses.
Uber and Lyft do use background checks, but they aren't fingerprint-based . . . which means that they don't get checked against the inter-law-enforcement criminal database operated by the FBI. Uber and Lyft argue that fingerprinting adds significant processing time and cost to their operations without adding meaningfully enhanced vetting. They believe that their background checks are sufficient . . . though a lawsuit in California is based, in part, on defects in the Uber background check system that the plaintiffs (joined by the city) allege render the system unsafe as compared to fingerprints.
Most likely, Uber and Lyft simply don't want the added costs of compliance. Taxi drivers get individual licenses to operate and the drivers must deal with license compliance on an individual basis . . . whereas ride-service drivers are contractors through the company which operates on a class license like a limousine service. The Austin plan would have the city's overhead in handling the fingerprint background checks passed back to the companies through fees.
Also, Uber has said that fingerprinting leads to a shortage in drivers . . . seems like an odd position to take with the public that would like to presume that the person driving them around would, costs not considered, have no problem with submitting a fingerprint check.
This debate is happening all over the country and Uber has not always resisted. In Houston, for instance, the city passed a fingerprint requirement and Uber and Lyft continued operation. But the company continues to threaten to leave where these fingerprint laws are being debated, including in New Jersey, Georgia, and San Jose, CA.
What happened in Austin after Uber and Lyft got up and left
The Truth About Uber's Background Checks | Fast Company | Business + Innovation
https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/13/what-is-going-on-with-uber-and-lyft-in-austin/
What's in a fingerprint? The future of Uber in New Jersey - Mercury News
Uber and Lyft do use background checks, but they aren't fingerprint-based . . . which means that they don't get checked against the inter-law-enforcement criminal database operated by the FBI. Uber and Lyft argue that fingerprinting adds significant processing time and cost to their operations without adding meaningfully enhanced vetting. They believe that their background checks are sufficient . . . though a lawsuit in California is based, in part, on defects in the Uber background check system that the plaintiffs (joined by the city) allege render the system unsafe as compared to fingerprints.
Most likely, Uber and Lyft simply don't want the added costs of compliance. Taxi drivers get individual licenses to operate and the drivers must deal with license compliance on an individual basis . . . whereas ride-service drivers are contractors through the company which operates on a class license like a limousine service. The Austin plan would have the city's overhead in handling the fingerprint background checks passed back to the companies through fees.
Also, Uber has said that fingerprinting leads to a shortage in drivers . . . seems like an odd position to take with the public that would like to presume that the person driving them around would, costs not considered, have no problem with submitting a fingerprint check.
This debate is happening all over the country and Uber has not always resisted. In Houston, for instance, the city passed a fingerprint requirement and Uber and Lyft continued operation. But the company continues to threaten to leave where these fingerprint laws are being debated, including in New Jersey, Georgia, and San Jose, CA.
What happened in Austin after Uber and Lyft got up and left
The Truth About Uber's Background Checks | Fast Company | Business + Innovation
https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/13/what-is-going-on-with-uber-and-lyft-in-austin/
What's in a fingerprint? The future of Uber in New Jersey - Mercury News