DoorDash is doing more to ensure that its delivery drivers are who they say they are.
The delivery company on Thursday said it now requires more than 150,000 couriers to re-verify their identity every week by taking real-time selfies. Select drivers in some cities will even have to confirm their identity mid-delivery. DoorDash is also using artificial intelligence to help identify fraudulent activity.
The stricter rules are intended to crack down on account sharing, which is when one or more people use someone else’s DoorDash account.
Drivers may pay to use someone else's account so they can continue delivering after they’ve been deactivated due to traffic violations or fraud. Lawmakers have also raised concerns that undocumented immigrants are hiding behind the accounts of authorized drivers.
A government ID and background check are required to start driving for DoorDash.
In response, the company is asking more drivers to re-verify their identity every month. And it is also requiring some to confirm who they are mid-delivery, which it said adds an extra level of unpredictability. That feature is now active in 10 cities—San Francisco, Orlando, Seattle, Los Angeles, Yakima, Denver, Boulder, Sacramento, Atlantic City and Fort Myers—and will soon come to more.
An AI model is also helping the company detect signs of account sharing, such as “login anomalies,” suspicious patterns and “inconsistent or repeated account details.” If a driver is flagged for one of these things, they’ll be required to re-verify their identity before they can continue working.
The company said the expanded safeguards have been effective. Monthly deactivations of fraudulent accounts have more than doubled compared to last year. And every week, DoorDash blocks an average of 4,600 attempts by deactivated drivers who previously violated its verification policies from regaining access.
“Trust starts with knowing who is using DoorDash,” said Brad Rosenthal, director of Dasher integrity, in a statement. “People rightly expect us to know who’s at their doorstep or entering their business when they order with us. That’s why we’re further stepping up our efforts to make sure Dashers are who they say they are and crack down on anyone trying to break our rules.”
Dasher is DoorDash’s term for driver.
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