Drivers have started legal action against Uber after claiming the ride-hailing giant breached their digital privacy rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Four current and former drivers claim Uber is "failing to honour its obligations under the GDPR to share the personal information about its drivers".

The drivers, including Azeem Hanif, chair of the United Private Hire Drivers Union in Nottingham, sent a pre-action letter to Uber on Wednesday, March 20 claiming the firm is in breach of their rights by failing to disclose personal data it holds on them.

This includes the duration of time logged on to the application, which drivers say would allow them to calculate any potential monies owed in holiday pay and back pay claims, GPS data, performance data, profiling information and trip ratings.

It will be a landmark test of data rights under GDPR, which was introduced in the European Union last year, and the drivers are claiming the company is in breach of Article 15.

This guarantees drivers the right to "obtain from the controller confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning him or her are being processed, and, where that is the case, access to the personal data".

The claim is being made against numerous Uber operating entities across the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The four drivers have asked Uber to disclose data by making requests as far back as July 2018, but they claim these disclosures have been "delayed, inconsistent, incomplete and mostly unintelligible" before the company ceased correspondence.

Mr Hanif, of Basford, said: "Under the law I am entitled to all the personal data Uber holds on me. They cannot be allowed to hide it from me in the way they have, otherwise why have a regulator and the GDPR?

"Uber, once again, is flexing its corporate muscles and is making a mockery of the law."

Ravi Naik, of ITN Solicitors in London, who has previously represented claimants in cases against Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, will be representing the four drivers.

Uber taxi in the street
Uber taxi in the street

He said: "The right to access to personal data is a fundamental principle of data protection. Our clients have made numerous requests for their data from Uber.

"On any consideration, those requests have not been satisfactorily complied with. It is regrettable that our clients have had to seek legal advice to assert their rights, rather than Uber simply complying with the law.

"How they now respond will be a stress-test of Uber’s commitment to data protection."

It will be backed by Worker Info Exchange, a start-up organisation campaigning for data access and digital fairness at work.

James Farrar, director and founder of Worker Info Exchange and co-lead claimant, added: "For too long Uber has used its technology to abuse its power over drivers and deny them even the most basic of workplace rights.

"It collects vast quantities of personal data from its drivers and uses algorithms to manage, nudge, penalise, reward and even fire workers from behind the digital curtain.

"Uber’s failure to abide by the GDPR cannot be allowed to go unchecked. Government and regulatory authorities must take decisive action so that all businesses, in their race to digitise, understand that personal data rights must be respected at work."

An Uber spokeswoman said: "Our privacy team works hard to provide as much information as we can including explanations when we can’t provide certain data such as when the data doesn't exist or disclosing it would infringe on the rights of another person under GDPR.

"Under the law, UK citizens also have the right to escalate their concerns by contacting Uber's Data Protection Officer or the ICO for additional review."