The Netherlands has fined ride-hailing giant Uber €825m for deactivating drivers’ accounts without informing them, in the latest ruling against the firm over its practices in the EU.
A spokesperson at the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) today confirmed the judgement, which had been agreed upon on Monday, but made no further comment.
The ruling is based on European data regulations which state that people should not “be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing”, which had been used to deactivate the accounts.
The penalty would be the second-largest ever issued under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, behind a €1.2 billion fine imposed on Meta by Ireland in 2023 for unlawfully transferring European Facebook users’ data to the United States, which Meta is appealing.
The case relates to incidents that took place in Europe between 2020 and 2022, and began with a complaint against Uber which was filed in France.
It was heard in the Netherlands because the US firm’s European headquarters are in Amsterdam.
“We strongly disagree with this decision and disproportionate fine,” an Uber spokesperson said, adding that the company takes drivers’ rights seriously and its current policies include both human reviews and opportunities for drivers to dispute platform suspensions.
The company reacted similarly two years ago when the Netherlands levied a €290m fine for sending the personal data of European taxi drivers to the US in violation of EU rules.
“This flawed decision and extraordinary fine are completely unjustified,” Uber spokesperson Caspar Nixon said in reaction to that ruling.
European regulators have imposed billions of euros in penalties on large US technology companies in recent years under privacy, competition, and digital market rules, with Meta, Google, Apple and Amazon all facing multiple fines.
However, headline fines are often reduced or reversed after years-long appeals processes.
