Uber is considering using biometrics to test potential drivers

Uber has come under fire for allegedly doing little to protect passengers from unscrupulous drivers, and it’s determined to improve that reputation — in some cases, using relatively unusual methods. The ridesharing company’s recently hired Head of Global Safety, Philip Cardenas, tells customers that Uber is exploring numerous techniques for verifying drivers, such as biometrics, voice fingerprinting and lie detector tests. “Scientific analysis and technology” should help make up for gaps in background check infrastructure around the world, Cardenas says.

Uber’s safety chief is promising to improve driver screening using things like “biometrics and voice verification.” Ridesharing company Uber, which has come under fire recently after multiple highly publicized incidents of driver misconduct, has outlined various steps it is taking to make its service more secure. In a Wednesday blog post entitled “Our Commitment to Safety,” Philip Cardenas, Uber’s global security head, defended the company’s current safety procedures—such as a driver rating system and “multi-layered background checks”—but acknowledged that Uber still has “more work to do, and we will do it.” That work appears to consist of four major efforts that are being undertaken following what Cardenas describes as a global security review: First, Uber will attempt to improve safety through new technology, which will involve biometrics and voice verification for “enhanced driver screening,” and more ways to communicate with Uber and personal contacts in the event of an emergency.