Uber has been fined €825 million (approximately $966 million) by the Dutch Data Protection Authority for its use of automated systems to deactivate driver accounts, marking the second-largest penalty ever issued under Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The regulator found that Uber relied on automated decision-making systems to suspend or deactivate accounts of at least 171 drivers in the Netherlands without providing adequate notice or allowing for meaningful human review of the decisions. The fine was announced Friday.

Under GDPR, companies must inform individuals when automated systems make significant decisions about them and provide a mechanism for human review. The Dutch authority determined that Uber failed on both counts — drivers were not clearly notified that automated systems were making decisions about their livelihoods, and no meaningful human oversight was in place.

The penalty is the second-largest ever imposed under GDPR, exceeded only by Amazon's €746 million fine in 2021. It comes as European regulators increasingly scrutinize how technology companies use artificial intelligence and automated systems to make consequential decisions.

Uber has not yet indicated whether it will appeal the fine. The company has faced multiple GDPR penalties in recent years, including a €290 million fine in 2023 for transferring European driver data to the United States without adequate protections.

The case highlights growing regulatory concerns about algorithmic decision-making in the gig economy, where automated systems can determine whether workers retain access to their primary source of income with little transparency or recourse.

Sources