(Reuters) - Italy's data protection authority on Friday fined Delivery Hero-owned Foodinho 5 million euros ($5.20 million) for unlawfully processing the personal data of more than 35,000 riders registered on its digital platform.

The regulator also prohibited Foodinho - a unit of Spanish start-up Glovo which Delivery Hero bought in 2022 - from using biometric data of its riders, such as facial recognition for identity verification.

A probe by the regulator revealed that the riders' geolocation data was transmitted to third-party companies without their knowledge, a statement said. Up to August 2023 this happened also when riders were not working.

The watchdog asked Foodinho to make a series of changes, including the messages it sends to riders regarding the deactivation or blocking of their account and the activation of an icon which indicates when the GPS is on, allowing it to be turned off when not on the job.

The investigation followed a report of a rider's account being deactivated after a fatal car accident in 2022 while making a delivery, as well as findings from IT experts.

Significant breaches of privacy laws were uncovered despite Foodinho previously being fined in 2021, the regulator added.

Foodinho was not immediately available for comment.

($1 = 0.9611 euros)

(Reporting by Michela Stasio; Editing by Giulia Segreti and Susan Fenton)