GDPR: TfL are ‘aware’ of Dutch Supreme Court judgment against Uber and are ‘considering the detail’

Transport for London (TfL) are ‘aware’ of an important Dutch Supreme Court judgment made against Uber and Ola, and are currently ‘considering the detail of the ruling’.

The comments come as a black cab action group released an open letter last week accusing TfL of a ‘failure to properly regulate’ and called for fresh ‘sanctions’ against minicab operators Uber.

The letter from United Trade Action Group (UTAG) is centred around the digital rights ruling where the Court of Appeals in Amsterdam found in favour of workers and against Uber and Ola Cabs.

Earlier this month, Worker Info Exchange (WIE) brought the cases in support of members of the App Drivers & Couriers Union (ADCU) in Great Britain and a driver based in Portugal.

The cases were brought under the GDPR which guarantees everyone the right to demand access to their personal data processed by any organisation and to receive meaningful information about the processing of such data. In addition, the GDPR gives everyone certain protections from automated decision making where there are significant negative consequences.

A TfL spokesperson told TaxiPoint: “We are aware of the judgement from the Amsterdam Court of Appeal and are considering the detail of the ruling.”

An Uber spokesperson said: “Uber is still carefully studying these rulings and in due course will decide whether to appeal to the Dutch Supreme Court.

“We are disappointed that the court did not recognise the robust processes we have in place, including meaningful human review, when making a decision to deactivate a driver’s account due to suspected fraud.

“Uber maintains the position that these decisions were based on human review and not on automated decision making, which was acknowledged earlier by the previous court.

“These rulings only relate to a few specific drivers from the UK that were deactivated in the period between 2018 and 2020 in relation to very specific circumstances.”

UTAG however argue that the global operator should face fresh ‘sanctions’ following the decision and recent data breaches.

A UTAG spokesperson said: “This assertion about Uber from (Sadiq) Khan was in Oct 15. "One strike and you are out"

“Since then ULL (Uber London Limited) has had 6 chances and are now guilty of another huge data breach.

“Will the Mayor now act as he promised 8 years ago? Only UTAG will hold him to account and continue the fight.”

In the UTAG letter, signed by Directors Angela Clarkson and Trevor Merralls, it says: “Following the judgements in Amsterdam’s Court of Appeal in the “Robo-Firing Case” it is patently clear that Transport for London are, yet again, failing to properly and robustly regulate Uber London Limited.”

The letter goes on to add: “Transport for London will be aware that Uber has a number of conditions attached to their current licence. One such condition relates to the reporting of breaches.”