Identity Verification Checks

Why am I being asked to take a photo of myself?

The safety and security of your account is a top priority. To help keep our users and platform safe for everyone, you are required to take a real-time photo of yourself before you go online. We then compare this photo with your profile photo or your registered substitute’s.

Substitution

One of the many positives of delivering with Uber Eats is the flexibility that comes from being your own boss and deciding if, when, and where to work. You may also choose to have a substitute complete deliveries on your behalf.

When your substitute is presented with an identity verification check, they will be required to submit a real-time photo of themselves. We will review their photo against the one we have on file.

  • If you have registered your substitute and they have passed all the necessary checks, no further action is required after they have submitted a real-time photo.
  • If you have not registered this person as your substitute, you may permanently lose access to your account.

Please reach out to support if you experience any issues.

Learn more about substitution or registering a substitute.

How do I take a photo of myself?

The process happens in the Uber app. You’ll be asked to take a real-time photo of yourself, like a selfie.

As the photo will be used to compare against your profile photo, you should make sure it is good quality. Ways to take a good quality photo include:

  • Keeping your face and neck inside the white guidelines on the screen
  • Making sure there is plenty of light (turn on the light if it’s dark)
  • Holding the phone steady so the photo isn’t blurry
  • Having no one else in the background
  • Having your face clearly visible and not covered by anything, like a hat, mask, or a scarf

You must not take a photo of another photo. This may result in you permanently losing access to your account.

How does the photo comparison work?

We complete verifications in two different ways.

First, if you choose to have your photo verified using facial verification software, we share it with Microsoft, our service provider. Microsoft, operating under our instructions, then uses facial verification software to compare this photo with the profile photo you previously uploaded. This comparison is done by creating a biometric faceprint of each photo, and checking to see whether the faceprints match. Photos that are flagged as potentially not a match are immediately submitted for human review by three different identity verification specialists. Because this process requires the input of three people, it can take a few minutes.

Second, if you choose a human review, your profile picture and the real-time photo you send us for verification goes directly to our identity verification specialists. They then follow the same process described above. Note that outside the UK, we may only provide the option of human review due to local regulations.

Do you tell anyone about the decision that is made?

You will be informed of the decision that is made. We do not proactively tell anyone else about the verification decisions we reach although we may disclose this information to authorised authorities with appropriate legal process.

How long is my data retained for and how is it kept secure?

You only have one face, and unlike a password, it can’t be changed if something happens to it, so we take steps to make sure your data remains secure. An important part of this is ensuring we only retain your data for as long as necessary to achieve our safety purpose. Uber will keep these photos for one year in the United Kingdom, and three years in all other countries. These retention periods are set to allow us to investigate potential account integrity issues, particularly if something goes wrong. To help further protect your photos, we limit access to those that need to be able to see them. Uber does not receive or store your biometric data. Microsoft does not store any photos and also deletes all biometric data upon completion of the process.

Transgender users

We want to ensure that transgender and transitioning earners are always able to earn using the Uber app. Our support teams are prepared to help should you have any issues while completing a verification. Please navigate to Account > Account settings in the Help Centre to update your profile picture. To learn more about how Uber uses your data and your data rights, please review our Privacy Notice.