Country Report France. GDPoweR – Recovering workers’ data to negotiate and monitor collective agreements in the platform economy

Cynthia Srnec (), Maxime Cornet () and Pauline Moreau Avila ()
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Cynthia Srnec: THEMA - Théorie économique, modélisation et applications - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CY - CY Cergy Paris Université
Maxime Cornet: NOS - Numérique, Organisation et Société - I3 SES - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation de Telecom Paris - Télécom Paris - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, SES - Département Sciences Economiques et Sociales - Télécom Paris - IMT - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris] - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris
Pauline Moreau Avila: Université de Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne)

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Abstract: This report presents the findings of the GDPoweR research project conducted in France. The project investigates the potential of data rights as a lever for strengthening collective bargaining and labour protections within the platform economy, particularly for front-line workers. Through a collaboration between researchers, trade unions, and platform workers, the project explores how access to worker-generated data could support social dialogue and advance workers' rights. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2023 and 2025—including interviews, focus groups, documents and legal analysis—the study focuses on the food delivery and ride-hailing sectors, where algorithmic management and data asymmetries are especially pronounced. Despite increasing trade union mobilisation around GDPR rights, platform workers continue to face significant structural obstacles in accessing their personal data, often requiring legal assistance to exercise these rights. Such barriers undermine both individual autonomy and collective bargaining capacity. The research also examines the role of France's Autorité des relations sociales des plateformes d'emploi (ARPE), established to facilitate social dialogue between platform workers and companies. Although ARPE presents itself as a globally unique institutional initiative, its procedural limitations constrain its effectiveness. The findings suggest that, under current institutional arrangements, social dialogue remains largely symbolic—legitimising workers' precarity rather than addressing it. In the absence of enforceable mechanisms for data transparency and legal accountability, platform workers remain structurally disempowered. This report thus underscores the urgent need to rethink governance in the digital labour market, centring data rights as a key component of future regulatory frameworks for worker protection.

Keywords: data; food-delivery riders; ride-hailing drivers; independent workers; GDPR; platform work; labour rights; trade unions; gig economy; platform economy; Uber; Uber Eats (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05-31
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Published in Cergy Paris CY Université; Théorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications. 2025

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