regulators tell cnn that is not enough and that government-run background checks that include fingerprinting potential drivers would go further in discovering histories of violence, but uber says fingerprints don t offer a complete picture of arrests and convictions. and uber has gone to great lengths to fight any government-run background checks. that s their game plan every single city, every single state, we re going to get a law passed that s just for us. it s their own special law for uber and lyft. a cnn investigation tallied more than 400 lobbyists across the country hired by uber, mostly to fight stricter oversight in many states even writing the laws. cnn s investigation reviewed all 43 states that have laws or rules on driver background checks, and they are strikingly similar. all but massachusetts leave background checks up to uber, and in 31 states the laws passed reflect uber s recommended wording on driver screening in
every single city. every single state. we re going to get a law passed just for us. it s their own special law for uber and lyft. reporter: a special investigate tallied more than 400 highed by uber mostly to fight stricter oversight. in many states, even writing the laws. cnn s investigation reviewed all 43 states that have laws or rules on driver background checks. and they are strikingly similar. all but massachusetts leave background checks up to uber. and in 31 states, the laws passed reflect uber s recommended wording on driver screening, in some cases, almost word for word. this e-mail from an uber lobbyist to a wyoming lawmaker shows just how influential uber can be. the uber lobbyist writes, they have two major issues with a draft of the bill, including the criminal background check provision. the lobbyist tells the lawmaker, change it back to the model language. it was.
made significant investments and improvements and will continue to work with state and local governments to get it right in the future. to conduct its background checks, uber and lyft both use a company called checker which uses a potential driver s name and social security number to search federal, state and local courts and other databases for disqualifying records. regulators tell cnn that is not enough. and that government-run background checks that include fingerprinting potential drivers would go further in discovering histories of violence. but uber says fingerprints don t offer a complete picture of arrests and convictions. and uber has gone to great lengths to fight any government-run background checks. that s their game plan in every city and state. we ll get a law passed that s just for us. it s their own special law for uber and lyft. reporter: a cnn investigation tallied more than 400 lobbyists across the country hired by uber. mostly to fight stricter