Uber faces €825 million Dutch GDPR fine over automated driver bans

MUMBAI: Uber’s algorithms have hit a rather expensive speed bump. The ride-hailing giant is facing an €825 million ($966 million) fine from the Dutch Data Protection Authority after the regulator found that automated systems were used to suspend or deactivate drivers without adequate information or sufficient human oversight.

The regulator’s 17 August decision concerns Uber’s handling of driver accounts between 2018 and 2022. The case began with complaints from drivers in France and was examined in the Netherlands because Uber’s European headquarters are based there.

According to the regulator, Uber used automated processes in cases involving suspected fraud and poor customer ratings. It concluded that drivers could face decisions with significant consequences for their livelihoods without being adequately informed about the automated decision-making involved or receiving sufficient human intervention.

At €825 million, the penalty ranks among the largest issued under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), second only to the €1.2 billion fine imposed on Meta in 2023.

The case puts a spotlight on a growing regulatory question for the gig economy: when an algorithm decides who gets to work, how much human judgement should remain in the loop? Platforms such as Uber increasingly rely on automated systems to flag suspected fraud, safety issues and other potential violations, but European regulators are scrutinising decisions that can directly affect workers’ incomes.

Uber has disputed the findings and said it plans to appeal the decision. The company argues that the policies examined by the regulator are outdated and maintains that permanent driver deactivations are subject to human review. It also says drivers have an appeals process through which they can challenge account decisions.

The company has separately said its current approach focuses on transparency and fairness, allowing drivers to request reviews when platform access is removed for more than seven days. Uber’s 2026 algorithmic transparency report also details the use of algorithms to monitor suspected fraud and other violations.

The complaint was supported by digital-rights organisation PersonalData.io and former Uber driver Brahim Ben Ali, who collected testimonies from other drivers affected by account deactivations. According to TechCrunch, Ben Ali gathered accounts from 171 drivers after his own Uber account was deactivated in 2019.

The latest decision adds to Uber’s regulatory headaches in Europe. The Dutch authority had previously imposed a €290 million fine over the transfer of European drivers’ personal data to the US, followed by another €10 million penalty linked to related data-protection issues.

For Uber, the dispute is now about more than a fine: it is also a test of how far algorithms can steer employment decisions before regulators insist that a human, rather than a machine, gets back behind the wheel.