Uber Fined 825 Million Euros for Firing Drivers by Algorithm

Europe's rules on automated decisions just acquired a very large price tag. On August 21 the Dutch Data Protection Authority fined Uber 825 million euros, close to 966 million dollars, for cutting off drivers' accounts by software without a person reviewing the call. It is the second-largest penalty ever issued under the General Data Protection Regulation, behind only the 1.2 billion euro fine levied on Meta.

The regulator's objection was not that Uber used algorithms. It was that the algorithms acted alone. Uber's systems tracked driver behaviour and customer ratings and then temporarily or permanently blocked accounts, ending a driver's ability to earn, before any human weighed in. Under the GDPR, decisions with serious consequences for a person are not supposed to be fully automated without meaningful human involvement and a real route to challenge the outcome. Losing your livelihood by software error, with no one to appeal to, is close to the textbook case the law was written to prevent.

The case began with people, not regulators. As TechCrunch reported, 171 French drivers took their complaint to a French human-rights group, which brought it to France's privacy watchdog. Because Uber's European headquarters sit in the Netherlands, the Dutch authority became the lead supervisor under the GDPR's one-stop-shop mechanism and ran the investigation to its conclusion.

Why this reaches beyond Uber

Automated management is no longer confined to ride-hailing. Warehouses, delivery platforms, call centres and a growing number of white-collar workplaces now use software to score, schedule and sometimes discipline workers. As those systems fold in more capable AI, the question the Dutch regulator pressed becomes harder to dodge: when a model flags a person, who is accountable for what happens next, and can the person actually push back?

Uber said it strongly disagrees and called the fine disproportionate, arguing that its current process already includes human review and a way for drivers to contest suspensions. The company plans to appeal, so the final figure may yet move. Either way, the ruling puts a number on a principle that has been mostly theoretical until now. A human somewhere in the loop is not a courtesy under European law. It is a requirement, and ignoring it is expensive.