bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

The Dutch data protection watchdog said Monday it hit ride-hailing app Uber with a 290 million euro (US$324 million) fine over the transfer of personal data of European drivers to US servers.
The regulator said the transfers were a “serious violation” of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as they failed to appropriately protect driver information.
“Uber did not meet the requirements of the GDPR to ensure the level of protection to the data with regard to transfers to the US. That is very serious,” Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) chairman Aleid Wolfsen said in a statement.
The DPA said Uber collected sensitive information of European drivers, including taxi licences, location data, photos, payment details, identity documents “and in some cases, even criminal and medical data of drivers”.
Over a two-year period, the DPA said, the information was transferred to Uber’s US headquarters without using transfer tools.
“Because of this, the protection of personal data was not sufficient,” the DPA said, noting that Uber has “ended the violation”.
Uber said it would appeal the fine, a process that suspends the penalty but can take up to four years.
“This flawed decision and extraordinary fine are completely unjustified,” an Uber spokesperson said in a statement
“Uber’s cross-border data transfer process was compliant with GDPR during a three-year period of immense uncertainty between the EU and US. We will appeal and remain confident that common sense will prevail,” the statement said.
The EU has rolled out a series of rules for what Big Tech firms can and cannot do, and imposed huge fines for breaches in recent years.


The DPA said it started the investigation after more than 170 French drivers complained to a French human rights interest group, which then filed a complaint to France’s data protection watchdog.
Under the GDPR, a business that processes data in several EU countries must deal with the data protection authority where its main office is located. Uber’s European headquarters are in the Netherlands.
“In Europe, the GDPR protects the fundamental rights of people, by requiring businesses and governments to handle personal data with due care,” Wolfsen said.
“But sadly, this is not self-evident outside Europe,” he said.
“Think of governments that can tap data on a large scale. That is why businesses are usually obliged to take additional measures if they store personal data of Europeans outside the European Union.”

It is the DPA’s third fine against Uber following fines of 600,000 euros in 2018 and 10 million euros last year.
Uber said Monday the most recent case relates to a complaint that dates back to 2021, during a three-year period “when there was significant uncertainty regarding data transfers between the US and the EU”.
It said the uncertainty began after the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated a data transfer framework known as the EU-US Privacy Shield in 2020.
A successor, the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, was adopted by The European Commission last year.
“Similar to what many other companies operating in the EU and transferring data to the US had to do, during the period the Privacy Shield was disputed, Uber continued to safeguard data in accordance with GDPR,” the company said.


Disinformation, fake news ‘most pressing challenge’ as Philippines ramps up cyber defences

Australia to ban children under 16 from social media: ‘real harm to kids’

From chip war to TikTok ban: what tech can expect from the return of Donald Trump

Personal data of 148,000 people leaked in breach at 2 Hong Kong hearing centres

Cybersecurity

Dutch regulator fines Uber US$324 million over transfer of sensitive driver data to US

Uber has been hit with a record fine by Dutch authorities. Photo: Reuters

Uber plans to appeal the latest Dutch fine. Photo: dpa

In Wuhan, driverless taxis offer a peek into the future of intracity transport in China

Illustration: Henry Wong

A Baidu Apollo Go self-driving car picks up a passenger in Wuhan, Hubei province, July 12, 2024.  Photo: Coco Feng

An Apollo Go car, the self-driving ride-hailing service of Baidu, takes to the road in Wuhan, Hubei province, July 12, 2024. Photo: Coco Feng

A safety operator sits in the driver’s seat of an Apollo Go robotaxi as the vehicle travels to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, July 13, 2024. Photo: Coco Feng

An Apollo Go driverless car on the road in Wuhan, July 12, 2024. Photo: Coco Feng

China’s robotaxi bet: all roads on island connecting Macau open to self-driving cars

Baidu’s driverless robotaxi service Apollo Go seen on a road in Wuhan on February 24, 2023. Photo: Reuters

Chinese suppliers storm Temu office in Guangzhou in protest over ‘harsh’ policies

A screen grab from video of Chinese suppliers protesting against Temu in Guangzhou on Monday. Photo: YiMagazine

A page from the Temu website is seen in this photo taken June 23, 2023, in New York. Photo: AP

The Temu logo is seen on a mobile phone displayed in front of its website, in this illustration picture taken April 26, 2023. Photo: Reuters

World’s largest iPhone factory loses momentum amid supply chain diversification away from China

A view of Foxconn’s new business headquarters in Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province. Photo: Coco Feng

Foxconn workers during an evening break outside the factory in Zhengzhou on August 15, 2024. Photo: Coco Feng

The temporary headquarters for Foxconn’s new business operations, also in Zhengzhou. Photo: Coco Feng

China’s ‘basic self-sufficiency’ in chip-making tools could come this summer, veteran says

Escalating US export restrictions have made it harder for Chinese companies to access advanced chip-making equipment in recent years. Photo: Reuters

Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment China chairman and CEO Gerald Yin Zhiyao speaks at an industry conference in August 2023. Photo: qq.com

Tech

Big Tech

Policy

Business

Companies

News

World

Europe

Uber, whose European headquarters are in the Netherlands, says it will appeal the fine


Uber, whose European headquarters are in the Netherlands, says it will appeal the fine.
