Foodinho, which is owned by Delivery Hero, was fined 5 million euros ($5.20 million) on Friday by Italy’s data protection regulator for unlawfully processing the personal data of over 35,000 riders registered on its digital platform.
According to the report, the issues identified included riders’ geolocation data being sent to third parties without their knowledge, including when they were not working (up until August 2023).
The watchdog has ordered adjustments to the app’s rider messaging and GPS feature, allowing riders to turn off tracking when not on the job.
The regulator also restricted Foodinho, a subsidiary of Spanish start-up Glovo that Delivery Hero acquired in 2022, from utilising biometric data from its riders, such as face recognition, for identification verification.
The regulator’s investigation discovered that the riders’ geolocation data was provided to third-party organisations without their knowledge, according to a statement.
This occurred even while riders were not working, up until August 2023.
The watchdog requested that Foodinho make a number of adjustments, including changing the messages it provides to riders on the deactivation or blocking of their account, as well as activating an icon that indicates when the GPS is on, allowing it to be switched off when not on the job.
Newsng understands that the investigation was prompted by an allegation that a rider’s account had been disabled following a deadly vehicle accident while making a delivery in 2022, as well as IT specialists’ conclusions.
Back in 2021, when Foodinho had approximately 19,000 registered riders, Italy’s authority penalised it approximately $3 million for a slew of data protection and algorithmic management violations.
So the app has not proven to be “once bitten, twice shy” in terms of privacy compliance.
We earlier reported that Talabat, Delivery Hero’s Middle East business, will list on the Dubai Stock Exchange in mid-December, with 15% of its issued shares floating.
