Every ride begins with trust. Trust that your driver has been vetted, their identity verified, and that you have the tools to stay safe.

That’s why, at Uber, every U.S. driver goes through a rigorous, multi-layer background check, and we continuously monitor records to flag new offenses. We’ve built more safety features than any other rideshare platform, and we led the industry in publishing data on serious safety incidents.

Because real safety isn’t a box you check once. It requires ongoing investment, constant innovation, and humility—including how we respond when concerns are raised. Since 2017, this approach has prevented 3.5 million people from joining or remaining on the platform, most before they ever completed a first trip.

How our background checks work

At a high level, Uber’s screening process focuses on three things: identity verification, driving safety, and criminal history.

Before a driver can take their first trip with Uber, they must submit their Social Security number (validated directly with the IRS), full name, date of birth, a valid form of government-issued ID, and a live profile photo, among other vehicle documents. They must also must pass two key screenings:

  1. First, a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) check, to confirm their driving history and license validity, and to look for any disqualifying traffic violations like driving under the influence or reckless driving. Around 70% of rejected applications are rejected at this stage.
  2. If a driver passes the MVR check, then a criminal background check is conducted by one of our third-party background check providers.

These background check partners are nationally accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) and regulated under federal and state law to ensure completeness and accuracy. They search using the driver’s name and Social Security number to trace their residence history (either lifetime or the last 7 years, depending on where the driver is applying), along with several other databases, including local, state, and proprietary national criminal databases, federal court records, the National Sex Offender Public Website, international sanctions lists, and several databases used to flag suspected terrorists.

Any potential criminal record flagged by this search is then verified directly at the source: one of the approximately 3,200 county courthouses across the country. That often involves physically sending someone to the courthouse to obtain records. And the final decision to disqualify a driver based on our screening process always undergoes human review.

Our screening standards

We reject applicants for a wide range of offenses, barring anyone convicted of the most serious crimes reported to us from any point in their lifetime, anywhere in the U.S., including:

  • Sexual assault
  • Sex crimes involving minors
  • Murder or homicide
  • Kidnapping
  • Terrorism

For other offenses, such as felonies, robbery, or fraud, Uber generally applies a 7-year lookback period, meaning that any charge or conviction within the last 7 years is disqualifying.

This is consistent with state laws, federal guidance, and long-established research showing that after 7 years offense-free, the likelihood of reoffending becomes comparable to that of someone who has never committed a crime.

We also re-run criminal background checks every year. And we go further with continuous monitoring, a system Uber pioneered in 2018. This technology flags new criminal charges as they occur, even in between annual checks. Whenever a disqualifying charge or conviction appears, the driver’s access to their Uber account is removed.

Always improving

We’ve also led the creation of the Industry Sharing Safety Program, through which Uber, Lyft, and HopSkipDrive share information about drivers deactivated for the most serious safety incidents, so that people banned from one app—even if they have not been arrested or charged—can’t simply move to another.

We’ve also built advanced identity verification technology to help ensure that the driver behind the wheel is the one we’ve rigorously screened. This technology suite includes:

  • Live photo and document authentication to prevent fraudulent identities
  • Real-Time ID checks, which require drivers to take selfies at random times to confirm that the driver behind the wheel is the same person authorized on the account
  • Stronger detection of and action on potential account sharing, which is prohibited and results in account deactivation

We know no background check is perfect or can predict the future, but we’re confident our screening process, backed by continuous investments in new safety technology, sets a higher standard for the transportation sector than existed before apps like Uber existed.

Your questions, answered

Why does Uber use a 7-year lookback period for most offenses?

Certain offenses—like homicide and sexual assault—are indefinitely disqualifying, meaning anyone with a conviction for these offenses is not allowed to drive with Uber, no matter when their conviction occurred. 

In many states, the lookback period applied for other offenses is dictated by law. Most state laws limit disqualification to the past 7 years, a standard grounded in fairness and based on research on rehabilitation. This approach balances public safety, access to work, and legal fairness, while maintaining stronger standards than most other forms of transportation, including taxis.

How does Uber’s process compare to taxis and other industries?

Uber’s background checks are as strict or stricter than most comparable transportation services. For example:

  • Boston taxis have a 5-year lookback for convictions (compared to Uber’s 7 year)
  • Chicago taxis have a 3-year lookback—even for sexual assault convictions, which are disqualifying for Uber no matter when they occurred
  • Honolulu taxis have an even shorter 2-year lookback, and look only at state (not national) records
  • Even New York City’s background checks are focused on in-state data; Uber’s own checks have disqualified hundreds of prospective Uber drivers that the City’s own screenings missed

The background checks Uber uses are national, multi-database, and continuously updated, offering a level of safety oversight for transportation services that did not exist before ridesharing.

Why not use fingerprint-based background checks?

Fingerprint databases primarily record arrests, not convictions, and many of those records are incomplete or outdated. That means fingerprint checks can flag people who were never charged or convicted, while missing others who were charged or convicted but not fingerprinted. That’s why states have rejected fingerprint-based screening for rideshare companies. Name-based checks, which access real-time court and law enforcement data, are just as accurate, more complete, and much fairer.

How does Uber prevent identity fraud?

Fraud prevention is a constant focus for our teams. Every driver must verify their identity through multiple steps, including IRS-verified Social Security numbers, live photo verification, and document authentication. Uber also performs random real-time ID checks, prompting drivers to take selfies during trips and comparing that photo to their profile photo. Customers can also write in to Uber if their driver did not match the photo in the app. We permanently ban anyone confirmed to be sharing or renting accounts.

Does Uber allow drivers with prior sexual assault offenses?

No. Drivers with convictions for sexual assault, murder, kidnapping, or other heinous crimes are permanently banned. Other offenses are treated according to severity and age of conviction, consistent with the law. We also block access for anyone who has a disqualifying charge pending against them, even if they have not yet been convicted. 

What about cases where a driver later commits a crime?

Even with the most advanced screening systems, no process can predict or prevent all acts of violence. When we learn of a safety incident that happened during a trip, we act immediately: investigating the incident, banning accounts, supporting law enforcement, and helping survivors. Outside of Uber trips, our continuous monitoring technology flags new criminal charges as they occur, even in between annual checks. Whenever a disqualifying charge or conviction appears, the driver’s access to their Uber account is removed.

What happens when Uber receives a report of a safety incident? Why doesn’t Uber automatically deactivate a driver after every report?

We take action on every report we receive. In consultation with safety experts, we match the action we take to the seriousness of the reported behavior. 

We deactivate drivers for serious reports, including the most serious behaviors in our taxonomy, where we have a statement from the survivor and there are no signs of fraudulent or false reporting. We also review information from law enforcement agencies, and proactively work with law enforcement, to act on such reports.

However, not all incidents result in deactivation because reports vary widely in severity and detail. Some include detailed statements or supporting information, like audio or video recordings; others can be brief, vague, or impossible to corroborate. And, unfortunately, fraudulent reports made in an attempt to get a refund are very common.

Automatically banning someone based on a single, unverified report could create fairness concerns, and in some states and cities could conflict with regulations established to protect drivers’ interests. That said, every single report we receive is tracked: even if it doesn’t result in deactivation, we typically warn the accused user so they can correct their behavior. And we make a note in their account so it can be taken into consideration if there are future reports.

Does Uber have a “three strikes” policy when it comes to deactivating drivers? 

No. A “strike” system implies that each report is weighted equally, and that you need three reports to “strike out” and be deactivated. This is not how our approach works. A single serious report can result in a rider or driver being banned from Uber. For less serious or inconclusive reports, we document the incident and consider it alongside any future reports to identify patterns or escalation.