Monday

27th Mar 2023

Uber may face fines in EU for keeping data breach secret

  • Uber promotional photo. Personal information from some 57 million users have been accessed by hackers (Photo: Uber)

US technology company Uber may face fines in the EU over its cover-up of a large-scale data breach, in a case which highlights new rules to come into force in the EU next year.

On Tuesday (21 November) the company's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced in a statement that "personal information of 57 million Uber users around the world" was acquired by two hackers in "late 2016".

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Additionally, the names and driver's licence numbers of around 600,000 Uber drivers from the US were hacked.

The breach had been kept secret, and Uber did not notify the affected consumers or regulators. Moreover, according to Bloomberg, the company paid the hackers a sum of $100,000 (€85,000) to keep quiet.

Khosrowshahi did not specify whether data from European customers were also involved.

When approached by this website, Uber did not want to comment on the record.

An Uber source told EUobserver that the company was in the process of notifying government authorities, and was not able to give more details until that was over.

However, given that the company last year said it had some 40 million monthly active users, it can be expected that European consumers will be affected.

If that is the case, then the company could face fines under the Dutch Data Protection Act, because it is registered in Amsterdam.

Since 1 January 2016, the Dutch legislation includes a data breach notification obligation.

A spokeswoman for the Dutch Data Protection Authority told this website that companies are obliged to report data breaches to the authority "without delay".

She could not comment on the Uber case and said that whether a company is fined for not reporting a data breach depended "on the context".

In cases where sensitive personal data is involved, companies are also required to inform the affected consumers.

Uber said that the information to which hackers acquired access, "included names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers", which may not be seen as 'sensitive'.

If the Dutch Data Protection Authority determines that Uber has broken the Dutch law, the company could face a fine of up to €820,000 – almost ten times what it reportedly paid the hackers.

General data protection regulation

But the bill could have been much higher had the incident happened after 25 May 2018, when new EU data protection legislation comes into force.

The general data protection regulation (GDPR) will make it much more expensive for companies to act like Uber did.

From then on all companies and organisations which collect data from EU citizens, should inform the responsible data protection authority in case of a data breach.

If such a breach is "likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms" of those citizens, they must also be informed.

Names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers may not fall in that category, but driver's licence numbers almost certainly will.

Failing to report breaches of sensitive personal data after 25 May 2018, could lead to a fine of up to €10 million, or two percent of the company's annual turnover, whichever is higher.

In Uber's case, the latter would have amounted to around €110 million.

Beyond that, the case is likely to do damage to Uber's reputation in Europe.

The company was recently labelled as transport company by one of the EU's highest lawyers, and it has been the subject of many controversies over the past few years.

EU gives thumbs up to US data pact

Commission gives 'thumbs-up' to controversial Privacy Shield deal with US on data sharing after a year's operation - but notes room for improvement.

EU to force firms to report major cyber attacks

Negotiators from the European Parliament and national governments have reached an agreement on new cyber-security rules. Amazon, Ebay and Google are expected to be affected.

Uber is a transport service, EU court rules

Ruling means that national governments have the right to demand that Uber drivers request the same permits and authorisations required of taxi drivers.

Opinion

Big Tech's attempt to water down the EU AI act revealed

The launch of ChatGPT has sparked a worldwide debate on Artificial Intelligence systems. Amidst Big Tech's proclamations that these AI systems will revolutionise our daily lives, the companies are engaged in a fierce lobbying battle to water-down regulations.

Latest News

  1. Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity
  2. Finnish elections and Hungary's Nato vote in focus This WEEK
  3. EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict
  4. Okay, alright, AI might be useful after all
  5. Von der Leyen pledges to help return Ukrainian children
  6. EU leaders agree 1m artillery shells for Ukraine
  7. Polish abortion rights activist vows to appeal case
  8. How German business interests have shaped EU climate agenda

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality
  5. Promote UkraineInvitation to the National Demonstration in solidarity with Ukraine on 25.02.2023
  6. Azerbaijan Embassy9th Southern Gas Corridor Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting and 1st Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us