ItalyLogistics and transport2021Deliveroo Italy
Algorithmic order assignment and shift booking for riders
Italy's data protection authority fined Deliveroo Italy EUR 2.5 million over opaque rider algorithms and excessive geolocation
Problem
The platform had to assign orders and book work shifts for thousands of riders. It did this with algorithms that riders could not understand.
Approach
Deliveroo Italy used algorithms to assign orders and book shifts and tracked each rider's position every 12 seconds, keeping all routes for six months. The Garante found the algorithms lacked transparency, the geolocation and data retention were excessive, and the monitoring devices had been introduced without a union agreement or Labour Inspectorate authorization. Its order of 22 July 2021 set a 60-day deadline to fix the violations and 90 more days to change the algorithms.
Results
Takeaway
The fine covered how riders were managed as well as how data was collected. The authority required the company to be able to explain how its algorithms assign work.
Categories
- Industry
- Logistics and transport
- Business function
- Human resourcesProduction and quality
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Optimization
- Adoption
- Built in-house
- Evidence
- Regulator, audit or court
Sources
Source summaries
The authority's newsletter reports a EUR 2.5 million fine against Deliveroo Italy for unlawful processing of about 8,000 riders' data. It lists non-transparent order-assignment and shift-booking algorithms, geolocation every 12 seconds with routes kept six months, excess data retention, and monitoring introduced without union agreement. Deadlines were 60 days to correct and 90 more to change the algorithms.
Full details are in the original sources.
