AP (The Netherlands) - Uber B.V and Uber Technologies Inc.

AP - Uber B.V and Uber Technologies Inc.
Authority:	AP (The Netherlands)
Jurisdiction:	Netherlands
Relevant Law:	Article 22 GDPR
Type:	Investigation
Outcome:	Violation Found
Started:
Decided:	21.08.2026
Published:
Fine:	824990000.0 EUR
Parties:	Uber B.V. Uber Technologies Inc.
National Case Number/Name:	Uber B.V and Uber Technologies Inc.
European Case Law Identifier:	n/a
Appeal:	Unknown
Original Language(s):	Dutch
Original Source:	AP (in NL)
Initial Contributor:	bms

The DPA fined Uber €824.99 million for automatically deactivating drivers’ accounts without human intervention, in violation of Article 22 GDPR, and for insufficient transparency.

English Summary

Facts

Uber B.V. and Uber Technologies Inc., the controllers, used software between 2018 and 2022 to monitor drivers’ behaviour and customer ratings.

Where the system detected suspected fraud or low customer ratings, drivers’ accounts could be automatically temporarily or permanently deactivated without human assessment. During the deactivation, affected drivers could no longer generate income through Uber.

The proceedings followed complaints by 171 French drivers represented by the Ligue des droits de l’Homme. Since the controllers’ main European establishment was in the Netherlands, the Dutch DPA investigated the matter as lead supervisory authority in cooperation with the French DPA and other concerned authorities.

Holding

The DPA held that the controllers violated Article 22 GDPR by subjecting drivers to decisions based solely on automated processing which significantly affected them.

The account deactivations were made automatically, without meaningful human involvement, and prevented affected drivers from working through Uber and earning income via the platform.

The DPA also found that the controllers had not sufficiently informed drivers about the automated decision-making. The press release does not specify the exact GDPR transparency provision infringed. The DPA imposed a fine of €824,990,000.

The infringing practices had already ended by the time of the decision. Uber announced that it would challenge the fine.

Comment

The final decision is still not published. The information contained in this summary is taken from the AP's press release.

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English Machine Translation of the Decision

The decision below is a machine translation of the Dutch original. Please refer to the Dutch original for more details.

Uber Fined Nearly 825 Million Euros for Automated Blocking of Drivers
August 21, 2026
Topics: Algorithms Explained
Working in Transportation

The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) has imposed a fine of 824,990,000 euros on Uber. The reason for this is that the AP determined that Uber made fully automated decisions regarding drivers. In cases of suspected fraud or low customer ratings, drivers’ accounts were automatically deactivated temporarily or—in cases of persistently low customer ratings—permanently. As a result, their income through Uber was lost during the deactivation period.

According to the AP, Uber thereby violated the prohibition on fully automated decision-making under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The AP also found that Uber did not adequately inform drivers about the automated decision-making process. Uber has since ceased these violations.
Human Review Was Lacking

Uber used software to monitor drivers’ driving behavior and track customer ratings. If the software detected suspected fraud or if customer ratings were too low, the accounts of the drivers involved were automatically deactivated. No human assessment was involved in this process. This occurred between 2018 and 2022.

Monique Verdier, vice chair of the AP: “Uber committed serious violations. Drivers were suspended without warning. As a result, they suddenly lost their income from Uber. That is prohibited. A computer should not be allowed to make independent decisions that have major consequences for you. A human should have reviewed this first.”
Complaints from drivers

The AP launched this investigation into Uber after 171 French drivers filed a complaint with the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), a French human rights advocacy organization. LDH subsequently filed a complaint on behalf of the drivers with the French data protection authority.

The AP then conducted an investigation because Uber’s European headquarters are located in the Netherlands. This procedure (the “one-stop shop” mechanism) is provided for in the GDPR. During the investigation, the AP did work closely with the French data protection authority. The AP also coordinated the fine decision with other European data protection authorities.
Amount of the Fine Imposed on Uber

All European data protection authorities calculate the amount of fines for companies in the same way. These fines amount to a maximum of 4% of a company’s global annual revenue. In 2025, Uber had global revenue of approximately 44.5 billion euros. Uber has announced that it will appeal the fine.
Previous fines against Uber

This is the fourth fine the AP has imposed on Uber. In 2018, the AP fined Uber 600,000 euros; in 2023, it imposed a fine of 10 million euros; and in 2024, a fine of 290 million euros. Uber is contesting the last two fines; the related proceedings are still ongoing.