Facts
Between 2018 and 2022 Uber used software to monitor drivers’ (driving) behaviour and customer ratings. When the software detected suspected fraud, or ratings were too low, a driver’s account was automatically deactivated, temporarily or, for persistently low ratings, permanently, with no human assessment. During deactivation drivers lost their income through Uber. The investigation began after 171 French drivers turned to the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), a French human rights organisation, which lodged a complaint with the French regulator CNIL on their behalf. Because Uber’s European headquarters are in the Netherlands, the AP handled the case under the GDPR one-stop-shop mechanism, working closely with the CNIL.
Question
The AP examined whether the deactivations were decisions taken solely by automated means with major consequences for drivers, such as loss of income, which the GDPR prohibits as fully automated decision-making. It also assessed whether Uber had given drivers sufficient information about the automated decision-making. The fine was set under the calculation method shared by all European data protection authorities, under which fines for such infringements are capped at 4 percent of a company’s worldwide annual turnover; Uber’s global turnover in 2025 was around €44.5 billion.
Decision
In a decision announced on 21 August 2026 the AP fined Uber €824,990,000. It found that deactivations with major consequences for drivers had been decided by software without any human assessment, in breach of the GDPR prohibition on fully automated decision-making, and that Uber had not adequately informed drivers about the automated decision-making. AP deputy chair Monique Verdier said that a computer should not on its own take decisions with major consequences for people, and that a human should have looked at these decisions first. Uber has since ended the infringements. The AP coordinated the fine decision with other European supervisory authorities.
Why it matters
This is the fourth and largest fine the AP has imposed on Uber. The decision treats the algorithmic deactivation of platform workers as automated decision-making prohibited by the GDPR and ties the need for human review directly to loss of income. It is also a cross-border case: a complaint brought by a French organisation on behalf of French drivers was decided by the Dutch lead authority. Uber has announced that it will object, so the decision may still be reviewed by the AP and the Dutch courts.
Related stages
The AP previously fined Uber €600,000 in 2018, €10 million in 2023 and €290 million in 2024; Uber is contesting the last two. In a separate civil case brought by drivers over automated deactivations, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ruled in April 2023.