Delivery Hero—Italian regulator fined Delivery Hero's Foodinho subsidiary EUR5M for illegally geolocating and biometrically tracking 35,000+ delivery riders
Italy's data protection authority (Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali) fined Milan-based Foodinho S.r.l. -- a Delivery Hero subsidiary operating under the Glovo brand -- EUR5 million for illegally tracking the geolocation of more than 35,000 riders, including outside working hours and continuing even when the app was inactive (through August 2023), and for sharing that location data with third parties without riders' knowledge or consent. The Garante also barred Foodinho from using riders' biometric/facial-recognition data for identity verification and ordered the company to add a GPS-activity indicator on rider devices, reformulate account deactivation messaging, and ensure algorithmic dispatch decisions are reviewed by trained human operators. It is the second privacy fine against Foodinho, following a EUR2.6M penalty in 2021 over opaque algorithmic performance monitoring of riders.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gig Worker Rights | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| User Privacy | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.372 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.66)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (2 signals)
Reuters: Italy watchdog fines Foodinho 5 million euros over rider data breaches
Reuters reporting on the Garante's EUR5M fine against Foodinho for unlawful geolocation tracking of over 35,000 riders and unauthorized use of biometric data, with remedial measures ordered.
The Record: DeliveryHero subsidiary fined $5.2 million for tracking drivers' geolocation
Follow-up coverage confirming the Garante's fine against Foodinho and noting the 2021 prior EUR2.6M penalty for opaque rider performance algorithms.