Uber has been fined €825 million (about $966 million) by the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the second‑largest penalty imposed under Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation. The regulator said the company deactivated driver accounts through an automated process without sufficient warning or human oversight, a practice that led to some drivers being permanently deactivated without review.

Uber said most suspensions are brief, that permanent deactivations require human review, and that drivers may appeal the decisions. The regulator disputes this claim, stating that some permanent deactivations occurred without human review. Uber has announced it will appeal the fine.

Brahim Ben Ali, a former Uber driver living in France, gathered testimonies from 170 drivers and filed the complaint with the Dutch regulator, where Uber’s European headquarters are located. He was assisted by the Swiss digital‑rights nonprofit PersonalData.io, which helped collect data on the deactivation decisions. Paul‑Olivier Dehaye, founder of PersonalData.io, said a single serious complaint can trigger large‑scale consequences. Dehaye noted that the fines stem from the same group of drivers and that he is establishing a litigation company, StartClaims, to seek compensation for drivers and eventually pursue similar actions against other gig‑economy platforms.

Analyst John Gruber of Daring Fireball argued that the fine raises questions about Uber’s ability to monitor driver behavior for potential violations and the extent to which automated systems make decisions that have major consequences. Dehaye responded that Uber must accept responsibility for decisions made by its systems, regardless of whether humans are involved later.