On 21 August 2026, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevensor AP) fined Uber €824.99 million for unlawfully using fully automated decision-making to deactivate drivers’ accounts.
Between 2018 and 2022, Uber used software to monitor drivers’ behavior and customer ratings. Where the system detected suspected fraud or sufficiently low customer ratings, drivers could be automatically and temporarily deactivated, while persistent low ratings could result in permanent deactivation. According to the AP, these decisions were made without meaningful human intervention, despite having potentially significant consequences for drivers’ ability to earn income through Uber.
The AP concluded that this practice breached the restrictions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on solely automated decision-making, particularly where such decisions have significant effects on individuals. The authority also found that Uber had failed to provide drivers with sufficient information about the automated decision-making process. Uber has since stopped the practices identified by the AP.
The investigation followed complaints from 171 French Uber drivers, represented by the French human rights organisation Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), which submitted a complaint to the French data protection authority, CNIL. Because Uber’s European headquarters are in the Netherlands, the AP acted as the lead supervisory authority under the GDPR’s one-stop-shop mechanism, working closely with CNIL and other European regulators.
The €824.99 million penalty was calculated within the GDPR framework, which allows fines of up to 4% of a company’s worldwide annual turnover. Uber reported approximately €44.5 billion in global revenue in 2025. Uber has appealed the decision.
The decision reinforces an important GDPR principle: companies cannot rely solely on automated systems to make decisions that have major consequences for individuals, particularly where those decisions affect their livelihood. Human review and appropriate transparency are required in such circumstances.