A regulatory authority in California has determined that it won’t require ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft to perform fingerprint-based background checks for their drivers. The California Public Utilities Commission indicated its decision in a new report, which still requires approval by a vote, but it appears unlikely that it will be opposed. Essentially, the…
Priests in Montreal will soon need to submit to fingerprint-based background checks, and some already have. It’s part of a larger project undertaken by the Catholic Church of Montreal in an effort to prevent abuse of the vulnerable, particularly concerning the sexual abuse of children that has been found to be pervasive in the Church…
“The bill is almost certain to prompt a notice from Uber and Lyft that the organizations will halt their services in Rhode Island if the biometric background check requirement is implemented.” Another state is considering legislation that would require Uber drivers to undergo biometric background checks. Rhode Island State Attorney General Peter Kilmartin has just…
“Public Services has consulted various industry interests prior to making the change and has piloted biometric background checks with a major contractor…” The Canadian government is enhancing its standards for contractor background checks with a new fingerprinting requirement, reports the CBC. The change is being implemented by Public Services and Procurement Canada in response to…
September is Law Enforcement Biometrics Month and to kick things off on the right foot we’ve put together a primer to get you up to speed on the various deployments, innovations, and ongoing developments in the world of justice and identity. – Sign up now for the Law Enforcement Biometrics Month Webinar – And spread…
Smaller ride-hailing services are filling the void left by Uber and Lyft in Austin. The leading ride-hailing companies ceased their operations in the city this past May in protest of municipal legislation requiring biometric, fingerprint-based background checks for drivers. Now, with the giants gone, numerous smaller companies have been offering similar services, and are operating in compliance…
Florida’s Hillsborough County is moving to implement new regulations for ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft, reports the Tampa Bay Times. A subcommittee of the county’s Public Transportation Committee voted to proceed with new legislation establishing a special category for ride-hailing companies called ‘transportation network companies’, or TNCs, and setting out specific regulations for such…
The Massachusetts House and Senate have approved new legislation concerning the certification of Uber and Lyft drivers, and Boston Police Commissioner William Evans has gone public with his concerns about their lack of any requirement for a fingerprint-based background check. While the regulations require Uber and Lyft drivers to be officially certified and to have…
New-generation taxi services Uber and Lyft are once again fighting efforts to mandate biometric background checks for their drivers. This time, the fighting is playing out in New Jersey, where two bills are currently being debated at the Legislature, one that would let the attorney general decide on mandatory fingerprint-based background checks, and another that…
The International Biometrics + Identity Association (IBIA) is urging unregulated taxi services Uber and Lyft to accept fingerprint-based background checks for their drivers. In a new white paper, the organization argues that the companies’ reliance on biographic background checks and their refusal to make use of the criminal databases associated with program’s like the FBI’s Rap…
The US Transportation Security Administration is seeking to improve the efficiency of airport security screening, and MorphoTrust USA is expanding its efforts with TSA PreCheck accordingly, the company says. TSA PreCheck is the expedited screening program based on biometric identification, and administrated by MorphoTrust. Individuals who enroll are essentially pre-cleared for security, with their fingerprints…
The Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, more commonly known as the Atlanta airport, is seeking to impose mandatory fingerprint-based background checks on unlicensed taxi services such as Uber and Lyft. The airport submitted the plan to Atlanta’s city council for consideration this week. Predictably, Uber and Lyft have come out with public objections against the proposal,…
MorphoTrust (Safran) has won two major new state contracts. The new deals will see the company providing fingerprinting services for the West Virginia State Police (WVSP) and the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS). The services will be offered through MorphoTrust’s IdentoGO Centers, the same facilities that process enrollment for the TSA PreCheck…
Ride-sharing services Uber and Lyft are fighting municipal legislation encouraging them to adopt fingerprint-based background checks for drivers in Austin, Texas. The legislation offers special privileges to drivers who undergo the fingerprint-based background checks, such as access to high-traffic areas at city events. But the ride-sharing companies see it differently, with Uber having issued a…
Private cab service Uber has been facing some legal hurdles in the form of biometric background checks in at least two Texas cities recently. The service was recently reinstated in San Antonio, where it had ceased operations after the introduction of regulations mandating, among other things, fingerprint-based background checks for drivers. A deal has now…
SureID, a high-assurance identity management specialist, has announced that it is now offering its SureID Program to the enterprise market. The announcement comes at the start of the ASIS International 2015 conference, where SureID is marketing its solution to businesses. In a statement, SureID CEO Steve Larson said that the company’s Program has been used…
Texans will soon have greater access to a state-run, fingerprint-based background check program. In collaboration with MorphoTrust USA (Safran), the Department of Public Safety’s Fingerprint Applicant Services of Texas (FAST) program is going to see an additional 55 enrollment facilities open up. The development will bring more enrollment centers to under-served rural areas in particular,…
Canada’s federal government is implementing new security screening protocols for its public servants that will include fingerprint collection in some cases, and the unions representing those workers are fighting back, according to a National Post article by Don Butler. The two main unions representing these workers, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the…