Where I live, if you get paid to drive over public roads, it requires a commercial driver's license. CDL's require you to pass additional testing and medical evaluations which are not required for your average private driver. Taxi services also must be licensed and are regulated by both the state and federal laws.
My understanding of Uber and Lyft are that they allow private citizens to arrange for ride "sharing" with other private individuals. Where nothing prevents such drivers from being properly licensed for getting paid, or for Taxi companies from using the online services to find customers, that's not the point and you are likely to end up with just some plain Joe out driving for some spare change on their free time in his private vehicle.
Personally I HAVE a class B CDL with passenger endorsements because I used to drive busses so I know something about what the rules are. Uber and Lyft make no attempt to validate that the law is followed (unless they've started requiring CDL's from their drivers since last time I checked), they don't require CDL's, they don't require medical certificates, nothing. They don't enforce the rules about how long you can be on duty, or how much rest a driver is required to have. So tell me again how they protect you?
Oh that's right, they know where the money came from and where it went after they take their cut... Which *might* be of some use AFTER a crime takes place, but it's not going to protect your safety like all the CDL rules are designed too... So I suppose there is a minor deterrent to crime, but somehow I doubt that it's going to be of much help for anything else.