Record Deletions of Uber App Spawned by Politics
In recent years, there’s been growing public concern about ground transportation safety, especially in light of safety-related news stories related to the new breed of ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber that rely on smartphone ride-hailing apps. Many riders have been wondering: What are my rights as a passenger? And what exactly should I expect from my driver and from ground transportation companies? A recent online survey found that 91% of U.S. adults over the age of 17 believed there should be mandatory rules and regulations for ride-hailing drivers. Read More
On May 18th Concur and Microsoft announced a significant improvement – one that could affect all of the Concur business users who use Microsoft Outlook as part of Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 product. Soon, clients who use both Concur and Office 365 Outlook will be able to book travel and organize their expense receipts within Outlook. Users will be able to simply opt into the service. No formal release date was given, but a beta version release is expected this summer.
There’s no doubt that a ride from Uber is catching on as a way to get around. According to the company, Uber drivers make more than 2 million rides per day around the world. But Uber has come under some close scrutiny lately, and the service has a few drawbacks. In many cases, a more private transportation service company may be a better choice compared to Uber or Lyft. Here are a few reasons why.
Uber drivers undergo a basic background check, with additional requirements for UberX, UberTaxi and UberBlack drivers. However, these checks are all are third-party background checks, not government-executed nor anchored by fingerprints like the checks required for taxicab and livery drivers. Third-party checks are 43 times more likely to miss criminality. These precautions disqualify thousands of potential Uber drivers a year, which makes you wonder how many unsafe drivers slip in under the radar, or how many Uber drivers have legal or driving records that are older than the three- to seven-year windows for Uber’s background checks.
A driver with a criminal background can simply submit his cousin’s Social Security and driver’s license numbers to Uber. And a “safe” Uber cabbie, once he learns he’ll have to drive 65 hours a week to make ends meet, may let his criminally negligent cousin take the Uber phone and car to go drive some fares.