The Dutch data protection authority has imposed an €824.99m ($962.08m) penalty on Uber for deactivating drivers’ accounts through fully automated processes, without any human review.
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP) found that Uber relied on software to track driver conduct and customer feedback, leading to accounts being automatically suspended over suspected fraud and permanently shut down where ratings stayed low over time.
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The penalty ranks among the largest fines issued under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In 2023, Ireland imposed a €1.2bn fine on Meta.
The regulator determined that no human had assessed these cases before drivers lost access to the platform between 2018 and 2022, disrupting their earnings during that period.
The AP concluded this violated the GDPR’s ban on decisions made entirely by automated means and separately found that Uber had not properly disclosed to drivers that such automated processes were being used to make decisions affecting them.
Uber has since discontinued the practices covered by the ruling.
An Uber spokesperson told Just Auto: “We strongly disagree with this decision and disproportionate fine, which we will appeal. The AP examined historic policies that were discontinued years ago. We take decisions that affect drivers ability to earn extremely seriously and we’re fully committed to fair treatment. This includes human reviews, robust safeguards, and the opportunity for drivers to appeal our decisions if they believe we made a mistake.”
The case originated from complaints brought by 171 drivers based in France to the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), a French human rights body, which then filed a complaint with France’s data protection authority, the CNIL, on their behalf.
Because Uber’s European headquarters sit in the Netherlands, jurisdiction passed to the AP under the GDPR’s one-stop-shop system, with the Dutch authority coordinating closely with the CNIL throughout the investigation and aligning its findings with other regulators across Europe.
GDPR penalties are capped at 4% of a company’s worldwide annual turnover. Uber reported global turnover of roughly €44.5bn for 2025.
The company has filed an appeal against the fine.
This marks the fourth penalty the AP has levied against Uber, after a €600,000 fine in 2018, a €10m fine in 2023, and a €290m fine in 2024. Uber is disputing the two most recent fines, with those cases still unresolved.
AP deputy chair Monique Verdier said: “Uber has committed serious infringements. Drivers were deactivated without pardon. From one moment to the next, they no longer had any income through Uber. That’s forbidden.
“A computer should not make decisions on its own that have major consequences for you. These decisions should have been looked at first by a human being.”
Earlier this month, Uber and Pony AI announced an expansion of their strategic partnership, with plans to collaborate on the deployment of more than 2,000 Pony.ai robotaxis across Europe.
