Max Schrems, the man who cost Facebook 1 billion euros
DECRYPTION – Last May, Meta (Facebook, Instagram) was fined a historic fine by European regulators. Consequence of a legal crusade that this Austrian activist started more than ten years ago,…
Max Schrems, the man who cost Facebook 1 billion euros
DECRYPTION – Last May, Meta (Facebook, Instagram) was fined a historic fine by European regulators. Consequence of a legal crusade that this Austrian activist started more than ten years ago, when he was just a simple law student at a Californian university.
In October 2015, the famous whistleblower Edward Snowden publishes one of his rare tweets. “Congratulations, Max Schrems. You have changed the face of the world for the better.” Coming from the activist who has revealed in detail the extent of the NSA’s m surveillance capabilities, the compliment is full of meaning. And last Monday, May 22, it took on a whole new dimension: the Irish Data Protection Commission, acting on behalf of the European Union, imposed on Meta the heaviest sanction ever imposed in Europe with 1.2 billion euros. This is the third fine imposed by the EU on Meta since the beginning of the year, and the fourth in six months.
What exactly is the role of Max Schrems in this legal victory which resembles the fight of David against Goliath? The Austrian activist is one of the strongest advocates of online privacy and one of the most persistent opponents of the abuses of Gafa on the use of data…
