Before giving a ride, Lyft said that all Lyft drivers must pass a criminal background check that will include a Social Security number trace, a nationwide criminal search, a county court records search, a federal criminal search, as well as a U.S. Department of Justice 50-state sex offender registry search. To remain on the platform, Lyft said that it requires all active drivers to pass another background check at least every 12 months.

The expansion of the background check process will include criminal monitoring, Lyft said, to provide Lyft with daily monitoring of its active drivers and immediate notification of any disqualifying criminal convictions. Any driver who does not pass both the annual and continuous screenings will be barred from the platform.  

"By expanding its screening solutions through two of the top background check companies in the country, Lyft is further enhancing its ability to detect criminal activity and providing an additional level of safety across the platform," the blog said.

Lyft also announced a new, enhanced identity verification process, combining driver's license verification and photographic identity verification to prevent identity fraud on its platform. Potentially fraudulent drivers will be required to provide evidence that they are carrying the approved driver’s license as well as a real-time photo of their face, which will be used to verify that the driver’s identity is authentic," the blog said. "This enhanced identity verification process will layer onto the variety of security tools we already use to detect early signals of fraud, and such potentially fraudulent drivers will be required to complete this verification process in order to continue driving on our platform."