Authority has fined Uber four times; 2024 penalty was largest at $324 million
The Dutch Data Protection Authority announced the fine on Friday, concluding an investigation into Uber’s use of automated systems to suspend driver accounts. The authority said the company’s automated systems deactivated driver accounts — including permanent suspensions — without a human review to check for errors.
The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation prohibits fully automated decision-making. The Dutch authority found that Uber’s suspension process violated that rule. The authority also found that the company had failed to inform drivers that automated systems, rather than human reviewers, were making those decisions.
The agency said the violations occurred between 2018 and 2022.
Uber rejected the regulator’s findings and said it would file an appeal. In a written statement, the company said: “The (Data Protection Authority) examined historic policies that were discontinued years ago. We take decisions that affect drivers’ ability to earn extremely seriously and we’re fully committed to fair treatment. This includes human reviews, robust safeguards, and the opportunity for drivers to appeal our decisions if they believe we made a mistake.”
The fine of 825 million euros is the fourth penalty the Dutch authority has imposed on Uber. The largest previous action came in 2024, when the regulator levied a 290 million euro ($324 million) fine against Uber for transferring European driver data to the United States without adequate protection.