Former Uber drivers have launched two claims in the Netherlands seeking to challenge the company’s use of algorithmic decision making to terminate their contracts on the basis of alleged fraud (“robo-firing”) and its refusal to explain how these decisions were made. The legal challenges are the first of their kind to test the protections of GDPR articles which regulate important decisions made by artificial intelligence. The cases could help to set EU-wide standards for explaining how algorithms have made decisions as well as the right to object to automated decision-making. An initial court hearing has been scheduled for 16 December 2020. The cases have been widely reported – see for instance, the BBC, The Telegraph and The Guardian.
Jacob Turner is acting for the App Drivers and Couriers Union, which is representing the drivers, instructed by Anton Ekker of Ekker Legal.
