AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Uber has been fined €825 million ($966 million) by the Dutch Data Protection Authority for deactivating driver accounts through automated systems without adequately informing them, according to an August 17 decision reviewed by Reuters.

The penalty would be the second-largest issued under Europe's General Data Protection Regulation, behind only the €1.2 billion fine imposed on Meta by Ireland in 2023 for unlawfully transferring European Facebook users' data to the United States. Meta is appealing that penalty.

Uber said it would also appeal the Dutch decision.

"We strongly disagree with this decision and disproportionate fine," an Uber spokesperson said, adding that the company takes drivers' rights seriously and its policies include both human reviews and opportunities for drivers to dispute platform suspensions.

The Dutch authority confirmed the decision on August 21.

"Uber has committed serious infringements," the authority's deputy chair Monique Verdier said, referring to the deactivation of driver accounts without warning or human involvement.

"From one moment to the next they no longer had any income ... A computer should not make decisions on its own that have (such) major consequences."

Under GDPR rules, decisions made solely by computer algorithms are prohibited when they have a significant impact on people's lives. Such decisions require meaningful human review and a way for those affected to challenge them.

The Uber case concerns incidents in Europe between 2018 and 2022 and stemmed initially from a French complaint. The Dutch regulator handled the case because Uber's European headquarters are in the Netherlands.

Uber temporarily suspended accounts of some drivers suspected of fraud, including when its systems concluded they had taken unnecessary detours to inflate fares or accepted trips without intending to complete them.

The company said such suspensions were usually brief and that it did not permanently deactivate those accounts without human review.

The Dutch agency said drivers with low customer ratings were sometimes permanently deactivated by computer. Uber disputed that finding, saying it had never automated permanent deactivation decisions.

Uber also argued that the fine was disproportionate because only a small number of drivers were affected. The company said 126 drivers in Europe were deactivated because of low customer ratings in 2021.

The regulator said the penalty was calculated as a fraction of Uber's 2025 annual turnover.

European regulators have imposed billions of euros in penalties on large U.S. technology companies in recent years under privacy, competition and digital market rules. Meta, Google, Apple and Amazon have all faced multiple fines, although some headline penalties have subsequently been reduced or reversed through appeals.

Swiss digital-rights group PersonalData.io, which helped French Uber drivers seek information about algorithmic decisions affecting their work and ultimately led to the Dutch investigation, welcomed the decision.

Founder Paul-Olivier Dehaye said the group is preparing a class-action lawsuit against Uber seeking compensation for drivers.