Rachel Bozalis - More than 8,000 Uber and Lyft drivers fail Massachusetts background chec

Recently, the state of Massachusetts has conducted background checks on Lyft and Uber drivers that are much more in depth than those that the companies perform. Uber and Lyft cannot legally look past a seven year cap for offenses a person has committed, a boundary the state does not have to deal with. While Uber agreed to the checks, they have now released a statement voicing their unhappiness with the results of the checks, as 10% of applicants that would have passed their checks are not allowed to be hired anymore, stating "The new screening includes an unfair and unjust indefinite lookback period that has caused thousands of people in Massachusetts to lose access to economic opportunities," said Uber in a statement. "We have a chance to repair the current system in the rules process so that people who deserve to work are not denied the opportunity." The companies have until 2018 to adhere to the law, meaning that there is still time for adjustments on both sides. 

Personally, I like that the state held more in depth background checks on the applying and current drivers. Giving a person the trust to drive you can be very dangerous and these checks alleviate any excess stress. It does, however, put limitations on drivers and will take away the jobs of many whose offense may have occurred over a decade ago. Similar, but on a much lesser scale, to the security crackdowns after 9/11, these state regulations have the best interest of their citizens in mind. 

http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/05/technology/massachusetts-uber-lyft-background/index.html