The ride hailing giant has encountered an accident!
On August 26th local time, the Dutch Data Protection Agency (DPA) announced a fine of 290 million euros, equivalent to 2.3 billion yuan, on Uber. This is the highest fine ever imposed by DPA. DPA stated that Uber transferred the personal data of European taxi drivers to the United States and did not provide appropriate protection for the data during these transfers.
Since 2023, Uber's stock price has risen by over 200%, with a latest market value of $156.1 billion, equivalent to approximately RMB 1.1 trillion. A few days ago, this ride hailing giant partnered with General Motors' autonomous driving division Cruise to provide autonomous taxi services.
How can Uber counterattack in the face of huge fines? Uber responded to the public that "the cross-border data transmission process complies with the General Data Protection Regulation, and the company will file an appeal
Huge fine
Chinese journalists from securities firms have noticed that the Dutch Data Protection Agency (DPA) announced on its official website on August 26th that it has imposed a fine of 290 million euros on Uber.
The Dutch Data Protection Agency stated that Uber transferred the data of European taxi drivers to the United States without complying with privacy protection rules. The company collects location information, photos, payment information, identification information, and even in some cases, criminal records and medical data of drivers. Over the past two years, Uber has transmitted this data to its US headquarters without fully protecting personal information. The Dutch Data Protection Agency stated that this seriously violates the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and Uber has terminated this violation.
Aleid Wolfsen, Chairman of the Dutch Data Protection Authority, stated that in Europe, GDPR requires companies and governments to handle personal data with caution to protect people's fundamental rights. Unfortunately, outside of Europe, this is not self-evident. Think about governments that can make large-scale use of data. Therefore, companies typically need to take additional measures when storing personal data of Europeans outside the European Union. Uber did not ensure GDPR protection for drivers when transmitting data to the United States, which is very serious
In a statement, the Netherlands Data Protection Agency said that after more than 170 French drivers complained to the French human rights advocacy organization LDH, the Netherlands Data Protection Agency launched an investigation into Uber. The reason for the investigation by the agency is that Uber's European headquarters are located in the Netherlands.
In recent years, the European Union has introduced a series of rules for large technology companies and imposed huge fines for violations. GDPR stipulates that companies processing data in different EU countries must deal with a privacy regulatory authority, namely the privacy regulatory authority of the country where the company is located. Uber's European headquarters is located in the Netherlands, and during the investigation, the Dutch Data Protection Authority worked closely with French regulatory agencies and coordinated penalty decisions with other European regulatory agencies. All privacy regulatory agencies in Europe calculate the level of fines for companies in the same way, which can reach up to 4% of the company's global annual revenue. In 2023, Uber's global revenue is approximately 34.5 billion euros.
This fine is the third fine imposed by the Dutch Data Protection Authority on Uber. In 2013, Uber was fined 10 million euros, and in 2018, it was fined 600000 euros.
Uber responds
In response to the aforementioned huge fine, Uber stated that "this flawed decision and the huge fine are completely unreasonable. During the three-year period of great uncertainty between the European Union and the United States, Uber's cross-border data transmission process complies with GDPR. Uber will appeal and believe that 'common sense will prevail'
Uber is a technology company based in Silicon Valley, USA. In 2009, Travis Kalanick, a dropout from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his friend Garrett Kemp founded Uber. The company pioneered a one click real-time ride hailing service through a smartphone app, and based on this, implemented diversified expansion, successively adding businesses such as food delivery, vehicle solutions (vehicle rental services), freight services, and new travel services (shared electric bicycles, electric scooters). Subsequently, the company rapidly expanded its international market and became a global leader in shared mobility.
From the perspective of financing history, in 2010, Uber received a venture capital bet from a group of angel investors in Silicon Valley, California. In 2011, Uber, which had only been operating for 18 months, received $32 million from investors such as Goldman Sachs and completed its second round of financing; In June 2014, Uber announced a $1.2 billion investment, with the company valued at approximately $18.2 billion at the time; On June 2, 2016, Uber announced that it had received a $3.5 billion investment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, which pushed Uber's valuation to $62.5 billion. In May 2019, Uber went public on the New York Stock Exchange.
The prospectus shows that Uber's business developed rapidly before going public. In 2016, Uber's operating revenue was $3.845 billion, with a net loss of $370 million; In 2017, the operating revenue was 7.932 billion US dollars, with a net loss of 4.033 billion US dollars; In 2018, the operating revenue was 11.27 billion US dollars, achieving its first profit with a net profit of 997 million US dollars. By the fourth quarter of 2018, Uber's monthly active users had grown to 91 million, a 33% increase from 68 million at the end of 2017 and nearly five times the 19 million at the beginning of 2016.
However, Uber suffered consecutive losses from 2019 to 2022. Uber will not return to profitability until 2023. Data shows that for the full year of 2023, Uber's revenue was $37.281 billion and net profit was $1.887 billion. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, "2023 is a turning point for Uber, proving that we can continue to achieve strong profit growth on a large scale. Our audience is larger than ever before, and engagement is higher. In 2023, our platform will provide an average of nearly 26 million daily travel supports
Recently, Uber disclosed its Q2 2024 performance. Data shows that Uber's Q2 revenue was $10.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15.93%, exceeding analysts' expectations of $10.58 billion; Net profit was $1.015 billion, including a pre tax gain of $333 million due to the "Uber equity investment revaluation"; Diluted earnings per share were $0.47, higher than analysts' expectations of $0.31; Uber announced that its quarterly operating profit, calculated under General Accounting Principles (GAAP), has reached a historic high. In the second quarter, consumers on Uber's monthly active platform increased by 14% year-on-year to 156 million, and the number of trips made through the Uber platform increased by 21.5% year-on-year to 2.77 billion.
Dara Khosrowshahi said, "Uber's growth engine continues to run, achieving over 20% trip growth for the sixth consecutive quarter while setting a record for profitability. Uber's consumers have never been stronger than they are now - more people are using the platform than ever before, and more frequently than ever before - while drivers and delivery drivers earned $17.9 billion in revenue this quarter, hitting a historic high
Meanwhile, Uber has been making significant moves recently. On July 31st, BYD announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Uber, planning to introduce 100000 new BYD electric vehicles in key global markets to further expand the electric vehicle lineup on the Uber platform. This cooperation will start in Europe and Latin America, and gradually expand to regions such as the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand.
In order to encourage more drivers to choose electric vehicles, both parties will further consider providing charging discounts, vehicle maintenance or insurance benefits to car owners in the future, as well as providing financing and leasing solutions based on specific market conditions. BYD Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu said, "Both BYD and Uber are committed to innovation and working together to build a cleaner and greener world. I am delighted that BYD can join hands with Uber to move towards this future
In addition, on August 22 local time, Cruise and Uber, the driverless division of General Motors, announced the establishment of a multi-year strategic partnership to introduce Cruise autonomous vehicle to the Uber platform. The two companies plan to start cooperation next year and equip a batch of autonomous vehicle based on Chevrolet Bolt. Once launched, when Uber passengers request to take a ride in a qualified vehicle on the app, they can choose to use the Cruise autonomous vehicle to complete this service.