Uber has been fined the largest in its history, with a €290 million penalty issued to the ride-hailing company by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA), the equivalent of the CNIL in France. The fine was issued in response to Uber transferring the personal data of European taxi drivers to the United States without adequate protections. The initial complaint came from here, but the case was transferred to the Netherlands, where Uber’s European headquarters are located; the tax system is more advantageous than in France.
Uber caught red-handed
L’Dutch authority found that Uber transferred account details, taxi licenses, location data, photos, payment information, identity documents and more from European drivers to servers at its U.S. headquarters for more than two years. During this time, Uber did not use any data transfer tools, which, according to the Dutch AP, led to insufficient data protection.
In Europe, the GDPR protects the fundamental rights of individuals, requiring companies and governments to handle personal data with due care. Uber has failed to meet the GDPR requirements to ensure the level of data protection for transfers to the United States. This is very serious.
This is not the first time that the Dutch authority has fined Uber. In 2018, the authority imposed a €600,000 fine after the company failed to report a data breach within the required 72 hours. In 2023, Uber was fined €10 million for failing to fully disclose its data retention periods and the non-EU countries with which it shares data. Uber contested this latest fine and indicated that it intends to contest the €290 million penalty as well.
One case too many?
A new case for the one who literally blew up the taxi model in the early 2010s. In addition to the many cases of harassment of customers, the American brand has been attacked several times for its economic model that is increasingly less interesting for drivers and, recently, for its easy installation in certain countries, including France where the links with Emmanuel Macron were revealed by the famous Uber Files. Several newspapers including The World And Radio France shared their analyses in 2022, confirmed in 2023 by a parliamentary inquiry.
It remains to be seen how Uber will be impacted in the coming months, as its business in Europe appears increasingly complicated by legislation and competition.
