Austrian Students Seek to Challenge Facebook’s Privacy Policies in Court

A student group calling itself Europe v. Facebook created a Web site to collect donations for challenging Facebook’s privacy policies in Ireland, home of the social-media giant’s European business. The group’s leader, a law student at the University of Vienna, says the company is violating European privacy laws, even after a regulatory agency conducted a public audit that required Facebook to change how it handles users’ information. In a written statement cited by Reuters, the company defended its policies and said they exceed European requirements.

Max Schrems, an Austrian law student at the University of Vienna who organized the effort, said that Facebook has no interest in adapting its service to meet stricter European privacy requirements.

“We have been pursing this for more than a year with Facebook, but the company has done only about 10 percent of what we had asked them to do,” said Mr. Schrems, 25. “Therefore, we are preparing to go to court.”

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