Rideshare brands Uber and Lyft team up to build a driver database to ensure passenger safety. This database contains complaints of sexual assault and other crimes against drivers.
How It Works
The clearinghouse revealed a list of drivers who had a link to Uber in the U.S. This list will also be available to other companies that use employees for services such as food or grocery deliveries.
HireRight is an on-demand employment background checks provider. This company will oversee the new security measure called the “Sharing Security Program.” A third party serves to address potential legal concerns about rival companies like Uber and Lyft. Involving HireRight is mainly because the brands have access to information about each other’s employees.
How Does Uber And Lyft Team Up Increase Safety?
“Lyft and Uber are competitors in a whole lot of ways, but on this issue of safety, we completely agree that folks should be safe no matter what platform they choose,” Tony West, Uber’s chief legal officer, told The Associated Press. He spoke in an interview with Lyft’s Head of Policy Development, Jennifer Brandenburger.
The safety program fulfills Uber’s promise made 15 months ago. There were more than 3,000 sexual assault cases reported in the U.S. in 2018.
Since that revelation, Uber and Lyft team up to avoid antitrust and privacy issues. The brands are trying to create a way to flag drivers who engage in violent or otherwise offensive behavior.
What is The Database?
It’s important to share information about reported sexual assaults. Victims often do not file formal reports with the police. According to Brandenburger, this loophole has allowed potentially dangerous drivers to avoid routine background checks on legal records.
The database does not share passenger information to protect their privacy. In case of an incident, a few broad categories will ensure the driver’s dismissal.
The classes are the following:
- Attempted Non-Consensual Sexual Penetration.
- Non-consensual touching of a sexual body part
- Non-consensual kissing of a sexual body part
- Non-consensual kissing of a non-sexual body part
- Non-consensual sexual penetration
- Deadly physical assault
Tony West said that only a “fraction of a fraction” of drivers behaved this way.
Why is Uber and Lyft Teaming Up Important?
Michael Wolfe is an Uber driver who also leads a group of about 2,000 drivers in Washington. “The few bad apples give all of us drivers a bad name,” said Wolfe, executive director for Drive Forward.
The National Network for Rape, Abuse, and Incest welcomed the safety layer’s addition. They are a victims’ rights coalition that accuses the agencies of not screening their drivers more thoroughly.
“Sexual violence thrives in secrecy,” said the coalition’s president Scott Berkowitz. “Thanks to this initiative, perpetrators can no longer hide or escape accountability by simply switching ridesharing platforms.” The initiative could also help satisfy U.S. lawmakers who have accused Uber and Lyft of inadequate safety measures in the past.
Lyft has not made good on its promise to reveal past operational problems. Brandenburger said Uber is waiting to settle a privacy dispute with California regulators.
In December 2019, Uber had released the names and contact numbers of victims. This action followed a detailed report of past abuse of their operations. Because Uber rejected the privacy complaint, as a result the company received a fine of $59 million. This dispute is currently on appeal.
Conclusion
All in all, the safety feature comes while Uber and Lyft are still trying to recover from pandemic restrictions. Especially when they basically reduced demand by keeping the people from traveling.
