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Uber receives a record fine of 290 million euros for sharing personal data

  • August 27, 2024
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The taxi company Uber has received a record fine of 290 million euros from the Dutch data protection authority. The company illegally passed on personal data of Uber

The taxi company Uber has received a record fine of 290 million euros from the Dutch data protection authority. The company illegally passed on personal data of Uber drivers to the USA.

The taxi company Uber is facing a fine of 290 million euros for forwarding sensitive driver data to its headquarters in the USA without adequately protecting this data. The company is thus violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to the AP in the Netherlands. The company passed on this data for more than two years without adequately protecting it. Uber is now complying with the regulations and is appealing.

Data protection

Taxi company Uber has been fined 290 million euros by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP). The company is accused of illegally storing confidential information of Uber drivers on servers in the US, where Uber is headquartered. This includes data such as account details, location data, photos, payment information and ID cards.

The taxi company allegedly did not meet the requirements for sharing personal data. Uber did not use a transfer tool, which meant that the personal data was not sufficiently protected. There are special rules that must be observed when transferring personal data from the Netherlands to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). The company would not have done that for two years, but now it is OK.

By failing to comply with these specific regulations, the company is violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). “In Europe, the GDPR protects people’s fundamental rights by requiring companies and governments to handle personal data carefully,” said AP President Aleid Wolfsen. But unfortunately, outside of Europe, this is not a given. Think of governments that can intercept data on a massive scale.”

Highest punishment of all time

This violation by Uber leads to a fine of €290 million in the Netherlands by the AP. This is the highest fine ever imposed in the Netherlands in connection with data protection. Second-hand platform Vinted recently received a GDPR fine of €2.4 million, and Amazon also preceded them earlier this year with a GDPR fine of €32 million. Uber says it will appeal. In their opinion, there was too much uncertainty about the rules.

Source: IT Daily

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