Uber is facing an €825 million fine from a Dutch watchdog for breaching Europe’s general data protection regulation (GDPR) by deactivating driver accounts through automated systems without adequately informing them.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority penalty would be the second largest issued under GDPR, behind the €1.2 billion fine imposed on Meta Platforms by Ireland in 2023 for unlawfully transferring European Facebook users’ data to the United States. Meta is appealing that ruling. Uber said it would also appeal.
Detours, fraud checks and suspended accounts
Uber temporarily suspended the accounts of some drivers who were suspected of fraud, including when its systems concluded that drivers had taken unnecessary detours to inflate fares, or had accepted trips without intending to complete them.
Uber said such suspensions were usually brief, and that it did not permanently deactivate those accounts without a human review.
Drivers with low customer ratings were sometimes permanently deactivated by computer, the regulator said. Uber disputed that, saying it had never automated permanent deactivation decisions.
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