Facebook privacy targeted by Austrian law student

To carry on his war against Facebook, Max Schrems figures he needs at least 200,000 euros — about $250,000 — no small sum for a law student scraping by on a government stipend. But like those he is targeting, Schrems, 25, is a creature of the Internet age. He envisions a fundraising campaign that could go viral: If 10,000 people give 20 euros each, Schrems figures, he will have enough to take the world’s most effective user revolt against Facebook to the next level — in a court of law.

Schrems contends that Facebook collects too much information on its users, keeps it too long and uses it for purposes that violate European privacy laws. As evidence, he points to the 1,222 pages of data the social media company catalogued on him before he formally requested his file from Facebook last year. The account it offered of his life — every friendship declared, every photo uploaded, every “poke” or comment or invitation sent or received over three years of casual use — sparked an online sensation when he posted it online.