AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch data protection authority (DPA) on Wednesday fined Uber 10 million euros ($11 million) for infringement of privacy regulations regarding its drivers’ personal data.
The DPA found that Uber had not specified in its terms and conditions for how long it retained its drivers’ personal data, or how it secured the data when sending it to entities in countries, which it had not named, outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
Uber also obstructed its drivers’ efforts to exercise their right to privacy by making personal data access requests unnecessarily complicated, the authority added.
The design of the drivers’ app complicated the process due to the form’s placement deep within its various menus, and Uber’s method of storing this information in a file lacked clarity, making the interpretation of the results difficult.
“This shows that Uber put all sorts of obstacles in place that blocked drivers from exercising their right to privacy,” Aleid Wolfsen, the DPA’s chairman, said in a statement.
The fine was imposed after more than 170 French drivers complained to a French human rights organisation, which lodged a complaint with the French data protection authority. However, as Uber has its European headquarters in the Netherlands, it was forwarded to the DPA.
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(Reporting by Piotr Lipinski; Editing by Louise Heavens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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