Though Uber and Lyft already require annual background checks, state regulators have decided that they don't need to perform full-on biometric checks (including fingerprint checks) like taxi companies do.

According to the Chronicle, the California Public Utilities Commission is allowing the ride-hailing companies to forego biometric checks because implementing the requirement "would not add a greater level of safety." Both Uber and Lyft have been opposed to requiring biometric checks, arguing that they're discriminatory. As it stands right now, biometric checks delve into a person's entire history, as they're checked against an FBI database. Uber and Lyft only require a background check, which goes back seven years and essentially goes into courthouse searches for all the areas that person has lived in within that time and also a check into the National Sex Offender database.

Still, despite not requiring them to perform biometric checks, the CPUC is moving to codify their already-in-place background check requirement. It will, at least, make it so that particular requirement won't go away anytime soon. The requirement also explicitly bans sex offenders and people convicted of domestic violence, driving under the influence, and assault and battery.

That said, even with current requirements, abusive and sketchy drivers seem to make it through the background checks anyway. Back in 2015, one of our own SFist staffers shared a story of her encounter with a driver who verbally threatened to rape and kill her. Earlier that year, both San Francisco and Los Angeles district attorneys sued the companies in order to force better background checks for both companies. At the time, both services advertised that their background check systems were "industry leading." A court later found that to not be true, resulting in hefty out-of-court settlements for both companies.

Of course, if Lyft's current partnership with self-driving car service Waymo proves to be successful, then these background check requirements could, in the future, be an artifact of a time gone by.

Related: New Law Means Tougher Background Checks On California Ride-Hail Drivers