New DoorDash Verification Cracks Down On Account Sharing

DoorDash is making some big changes this year. The delivery app is set to require their working drivers to verify their identities more frequently to prevent unauthorized account sharing. A December 12 report by Fast Company indicated that DoorDash wants to make the app safer to use with an updated verification system.

Following increased pressures from several Republican and big city senators, DoorDash is moving to Make assurances that all of their drivers are legally operating vehicles on the road. As reported by Fast Company, they pledged to more accurately identify and remove dangerous drivers who received complaints and flags on their accounts last summer so that people who commit multiple reckless traffic violations cannot continue to make deliveries with accounts that are not registered in their name.

DoorDash is taking the next step with a new verification method. The San Francisco-launched delivery company explained that they would require some flagged drivers to engage in real-time identity checks immediately after they complete delivery on their route.

Additionally, DoorDash has finished developing a new AI system that’s trained to flag suspicious unauthorized account accesses, paying attention to login anomalies from different locations multiple times. If flagged by the machine learning system, DoorDash will now require the drivers to verify their identity before they can continue making deliveries on the account.

In the U.S., the method of verification is two stairs. It requires drivers to upload a photo of their driver’s license or another form of government-issued identification, and also to upload a selfie to DoorDash that matches their identification photo before they can continue to do delivery work. Before signing up, new drivers are also required to submit background checks, taken with their Social Security number.

Before the new safety features, drivers were only occasionally asked to re-verify their identities before or after a shift. DoorDash has already introduced this updated system in Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, and several other big cities, but the company is already planning for a wider rollout next calendar year.

DoorDash explained that the company found instances of drivers bypassing unauthorized user status and still making deliveries by sharing accounts with other already authorized users.

DoorDash has not released an estimate on how many drivers are using shared accounts but instead assured that its new safeguards would be effective in cracking down on public concerns. The initial rollout is now asking more than 150,000 drivers to complete self-identity verification checks every week before they’re able to complete jobs, and it’s decided to remove those who won’t comply from the delivery platform.

However, several lawmakers have recently called out delivery apps as a whole to put protections in place to keep illegal U.S. immigrants from driving for the platform.

Republican U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Mike Braun of Indiana, and Ted Budd of North Carolina sent letters to leadership at Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub delivery, telling them that food delivery services are being reportedly “infiltrated” by illegal migrants in the country.

The letter read, “These illegal immigrants are delivering food directly to consumers’ doors without ever having undergone a background check and often without even using their real names.”

“Deliveries routinely occur late into the night, compounding the dangerous situation, and if the unimaginable happened-there would be little to no way to track the immigrant or bring them to justice.”

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