Schrems warns US intelligence can access data in Google centre

Austrian privacy advocate Max Schrems has told ORF Upper Austria that it makes no difference whether data is stored in Google’s controversial data centre under construction in Kronstorf, in Linz-Land district, or in the United States, as long as an American company can access it. “The US intelligence services are reading along,” he said in the ORF interview series “Auf ein Wort”.

Schrems became known for lawsuits against US technology companies. Fifteen years ago, while studying law, he first took legal action against Facebook. The European Court of Justice later invalidated the “Safe Harbour” agreement between the European Union and the United States, which had governed the exchange of sensitive data.

The 38-year-old now chairs the Vienna-based association none of your business, which he co-founded.

“Even the technicians at the major companies sometimes no longer understand where the data goes,” Schrems said. Transparency was a basic principle of data protection, he added, because people should understand what companies were doing with their information.

He accused companies of making billions in profits by “more or less stealing everyone else’s data” and using it to train artificial intelligence systems.

Schrems also criticised authorities for failing to ensure that data protection laws were properly enforced. They were either politically unwilling or insufficiently equipped, he said. In Austria, he added, a major problem was the lack of staff.

Schrems said he tried to approach his work with humour as well as seriousness. In one case he won at the European Court of Justice, he had personally been liable for legal costs of 10 million euros. “Otherwise you probably don’t sleep well,” he said.

Schrems is due to speak about artificial intelligence and data protection at the Chamber of Labour in Linz on September 16.