Uber let a machine ban 171 drivers — now it's paying almost $1B for it
Uber plans to appeal the decision.
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- Dutch regulator fined Uber €825 million (nearly $1 billion) for automated driver suspensions that lacked clear notice and enough human review.
- The case began after 171 French drivers reported account suspensions to LDH, which complained to France’s privacy regulator.
- The authority said disabled accounts harmed drivers’ income, especially when systems flagged fraud or low ratings.
- Uber plans to appeal, saying few drivers were affected and discontinued policies included human reviews and appeal options.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) hit ride-hailing company Uber with an €825 million ($966 million) fine for using automated systems to suspend driver accounts without properly informing them or providing adequate human involvement in the process.
The regulator said on Friday that Uber’s automated decisions violated the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which restricts fully algorithmic decision-making.
The investigation was launched after 171 French Uber drivers submitted reports to French human rights organization LDH, which filed a complaint with France's privacy regulator (CNIL). The AP investigated the case because Uber's European headquarters are in the Netherlands.
According to the AP, Uber used software to track drivers' behaviour and customer reviews, and would temporarily disable drivers’ accounts when its system suspected fraud or when drivers’ customer ratings fell too low.
Suspected fraud cases involved instances when drivers had taken unnecessary detours to inflate fares or accepted trips without intending to complete them.
If their rating remained too low for an extended period, the account could be permanently disabled. According to the authority, this meant affected drivers lost their ability to earn income as they couldn’t take rides through Uber.
The violations took place between 2018 and 2022.
Uber said such suspensions were usually brief, and accounts were never permanently deactivated without human review.
“Uber has committed serious infringements. From one moment to the next, [drivers] 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,” Monique Verdier, deputy chair of the AP, said.
The final decision was aligned with the French regulator and other European supervisors. In the EU, companies can be fined up to 4% of their worldwide annual turnover. The €825 million ($966 million) fine was calculated based on Uber’s global turnover of around €44.5 billion ($52 billion) in 2025.
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Uber now plans to appeal the decision, arguing, among other things, that only a small number of drivers were affected and that the examined policies have already been discontinued.
“The (Data Protection Authority) 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,” Uber said in a written statement.
