NEWS
NEWS
NEWS
Uber to implement biometric background screening as another driver accused of rape
Uber Inc. has announced that it will implement biometric scanning to screen the backgrounds of its drivers following a number of high profile incidents of its drivers attacking passengers, including a rape in India and a new alleged rape case in Boston.
The company said in a blog post Wednesday that “putting safety first for each of the one million trips we are doing every day means setting strict safety standards, then working hard to improve them every day.”
“We owe it to all our riders, driver partners and communities around the world to examine what we can do better and then do everything we can to make more progress on safety” the company noted.
As part of the increased measures, Uber said that they were “initiating research & development on biometrics and voice verification to build custom tools for enhanced driver screening.”
The renewed commitment to improved driver screening comes on a day where yet another Uber driver has allegedly raped a customer.
The Huffington Post reported that a driver for the ridesharing company was arraigned in Boston Wednesday for allegedly kidnapping and raping a passenger who’d gotten into his car.
The victim alleges that Uber driver Alejandro Done “drove to a location that the passenger was not familiar with, pulled over in a secluded area” then “struck her with his hands, strangled her, locked the car doors so that she could not escape and covered her mouth so she could not scream.” The district attorney’s office concluded that “during an ensuing physical struggle, the defendant allegedly sexually assaulted the woman.”
Done faces charges of rape, kidnapping, assault to rape and battery.
The company spokeman said in an email that “This is a despicable crime…our thoughts and prayers are with the victim during her recovery. Uber has been working closely with law enforcement and will continue to do everything we can to assist their investigation.”
Uber has a growing list of egregious drivers; along with the rape case in India December 8th, another driver was accused of rape in similar circumstances in Los Angeles back in June.
Since you’re here …
… We’d like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we don’t have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary on SiliconANGLE — along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams at theCUBE — take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.
If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here, please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors, tweet your support, and keep coming back to SiliconANGLE.
