I mean, I have the unreasonable expectation that my taxi drivers aren't rapists, or haven't had recent DUIs, that their insurance will cover them while they are on the job, and that the ADA will come down like a metric tonne of bricks on them if they refuse to pick up disabled passengers... But perhaps that's too much to ask from a radical world-changing inspired baller.
(As with the rest of the transportation industry, the regulations require all those things have been written in blood.)
Never mind that circumventing their background checks is also trivial - many drivers have gotten friends and relatives to create their accounts. This flies under the radar, because Uber doesn't care - they need more drivers.
They could, of course, calm these concerns by being transparent about their process (Or just doing the same that taxi companies do.) They don't, and they aren't, though.
[1] http://valleywag.gawker.com/uber-driver-heres-how-we-get-aro...
It's not like Uber is a rape fest touring the world in beat up lemons. In fact, I never even had an impolite conversation with the driver. It's just enforced with a different mechanism than background checks and inspections.
Frankly, I find the American paranoia behind running background checks on everyone much more bizarre than taking a ride in a stranger's car. And I highly doubt their effectiveness in a world where Reality Winner holds a (much harder to come by) security clearance.
Do we need to run a background check on the guy who may be driving around an intoxicated woman at 3 am in the morning? Yes, yes, and a million times, yes.
Maybe also check to make sure that he doesn't have a few DUIs to his name. Or, you know, a pattern of riders complaining about their driver being buzzed. They aren't even sticking to their own policy, there.
https://www.thefix.com/uber-faces-11-million-fine-over-drunk...
The e-mail by itself isn't the only problem. It's that it's just one line in a list of unethical, illegal or abusive behaviour that's as long as his arm.
Keep in mind - this is also the guy that stole money from the IRS (By funding his previous company with money he was supposed to withhold for employee income taxes... And by not charging taxi/sales taxes on Uber rides in many, many jurisdcitions), from drivers (By dramatically cutting their share of fares - after many of them were locked into long-term leases for their vehicles - leases sold to them by Uber), and who has blatantly lied to the public. (About Uber's background check policies, or the lack thereof. While having the audacity to charge riders a 'background check fee'.)
If running a successful startup requires being a completely terrible corporate citizen, then the valley needs to be burnt to the ground, before it drags the rest of us down with it.