Uber fined over automated driver deactivations

On 21 August 2026 the Dutch data protection authority Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP) announced a fine of nearly 825 million euros against Uber. The fine is linked to automated systems that could block or deactivate drivers’ access to the platform.

For many app drivers, access to the account is access to their income. An automated deactivation can therefore have immediate financial consequences – rent, leasing and fuel remain even when the login disappears.

The AP decision raises the question of how automated systems are used when the decisions affect people’s ability to work. Uber disputes the findings and is reported to intend to appeal, so the matter has not been finally settled in court.

Personnel Today also reports broader criticism from the Drivers’ Rights Alliance (DRA), arguing that algorithmic management can affect which rides are offered, pay, dynamic pricing and access to work. That criticism comes from the DRA via Personnel Today and is not a finding by the AP.

Taxiunionen’s analysis: the contradiction in the platform model becomes clear when a driver is described as independent while the platform can control access to customers, the allocation of work and, in practice, the ability to work at all.

This is the same area we raised in our consultation response on SOU 2026:3 concerning the Platform Work Directive: algorithmic management, account deactivation, pay and ride allocation, and the need for genuine human review and transparency. The response itself is written in Swedish.

The algorithm cannot stand above the law – and no driver should be left without a real opportunity to understand and contest decisions that affect their livelihood.