Uber fined in Netherlands for sending driver data to US by Reuters

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Ride-hailing platform Uber ( NYSE: ) has been fined 290 million euros ($324 million) in the Netherlands for sending the personal data of European taxi drivers to the United States in violation of EU rules, the Dutch data protection watchdog DPA said on Monday.

Uber has stopped the practice, DPA added.

“This erroneous decision and the extraordinary fine are completely unjustified. Uber’s cross-border data transfer process was GDPR compliant during a 3-year period of immense uncertainty between the EU and the US. We will appeal and remain confident that common sense will prevail.” Uber spokesman Caspar Nixon told Reuters in an email.

“Uber transferred the personal data of European taxi drivers to the United States and failed to protect the data properly,” the DPA said.

“This is a serious breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),” it said.

The investigation was triggered by a complaint from French taxi drivers.

France’s national data protection regulator, CNIL, said in a separate statement that it cooperated with its counterpart in the Netherlands, where Uber has its main European base.

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