Facebook is under increasing pressure around the world to get its act together and protect user privacy. That has proven especially true in Europe, where the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has held the company to a high standard for data security. However, according to Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems, European regulators have fallen short of enforcing Europe’s privacy rules — and potentially even colluded with Facebook to help the social media giant avoid punishment.
In an open letter published this week, Schrems blasted the oversight of Facebook as “highly inefficient.” He also said that Irish regulators had “improperly advised” Facebook prior to the GDPR coming into effect, essentially tipping off the company about what it needed to do to avoid punishment.
“We are deeply concerned about the approach the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has taken in three high profile cases against Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp,” Schrems wrote in the letter. “At the current speed, these cases will easily take more than ten years until all appeals are decided and a final decision is reached.”
Schrems is no stranger to causing trouble for Facebook in Europe. However, he doesn’t have a fraction of the resources that Facebook possesses, so his efforts often end up at a dead end. Here’s hoping that this time he can effectively agitate for change.
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