XPost: alt.politics.liberalism, sac.politics, alt.politics.democrats   
   XPost: ne.general   
   From: bksverman@outlook.com   
      
   More than 8,000 Massachusetts residents who want to drive for   
   ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft won't be allowed to,   
   because they didn't pass a new background check system that   
   operates in that state.   
      
   Most were rejected because they had suspended licenses or hadn't   
   been driving for long enough to qualify, according to a report   
   on the matter in The Boston Globe. But hundreds had committed   
   serious crimes, including violent crimes and sexual crimes. 51   
   applicants were registered sex offenders. Others had convictions   
   for drunk driving or reckless driving.   
      
   The checks came about because Massachusetts passed a new law   
   regulating ride-sharing companies, which required a background   
   check run by the state government, in addition to the companies'   
   own background checks. The state checks began in January, and   
   the results were announced yesterday. Out of the 70,789 drivers   
   who went through the state application process, 8,206 were   
   rejected.   
   The discrepancy between the background checks by the companies   
   and by the state came about because Massachusetts looked much   
   further into the drivers' past than the companies did, or could.   
      
   "Under Massachusetts law, Lyft’s commercial background check   
   provider, like all consumer reporting agencies, is legally   
   prevented from looking back further than seven years into driver   
   applicants’ histories," Lyft said in a statement to the Globe.   
   "The state does not face the same limitation, which likely   
   explains why a small percentage of our drivers failed the   
   state’s background check while passing ours."   
      
   Uber had a more confrontational response, suggesting the state   
   wasn't being fair to drivers who had overcome their past.   
      
   "Thousands of people in Massachusetts have lost access to   
   economic opportunities as a result of a screening that includes   
   an unfair and unjust indefinite look-back period," Uber told the   
   newspaper. "We have an opportunity to repair the current system   
   in the rules process so that people who deserve to work are not   
   denied the opportunity."   
      
   Uber faced a lawsuit in 2014 over claims that its background   
   checks, which the company called "industry-leading," were   
   insufficient. The company settled the case in 2016 with a $28   
   million payment, without admitting wrongdoing.   
      
   The drivers are allowed to appeal the results.   
      
   https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/04/8000-uber-and-lyft-   
   drivers-fail-state-background-check/   
      
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