Max Schrems is pissed at Facebook. What distinguishes the 24-year-old Austrian law student from the masses of other displeased Facebook aficionados: He’s decided to do something about it.

Curious about personal data the social networking site kept on him, Schrems submitted an access request to Facebook this past summer. A few weeks later, he received a compact disc of files Facebook kept about him. Broken down into 57 categories, the CD’s data ranged from which Facebook users he ‘poked’ to the locations and Internet Protocol addresses recorded with each and every login. When printed, this information filled up 1,200 pages.

More disturbing than the sheer volume of information collected during Schrems’ three years as a member was the fact that Facebook had retained ‘deleted’ data. Schrems found deleted messages, accounts of terminated Facebook friendships and every picture he’s ever been tagged in, even if he untagged himself.

Being a levelheaded and well-educated law student, Schrems moved forward by pressing charges on 22 separate counts. If found to have violated data protection laws, Facebook will have to pay up to 100,000 euros. Schrems even started a movement via an online campaign.

His recently launched website, Europe-v-Facebook.org, urges others to follow his lead. Under the ‘Get Your Data!’ section, he validates members’ rights to data and lays out the steps necessary to request and acquire data in an easy to follow format. This page also describes how Facebook users residing in the United States and Canada do not have the same rights as European users.

European users all fall under the umbrella of the Irish Facebook subsidiary, dictated by the European data protection law. A note on this page explains: ‘You have a right to access no matter if you are a EU citizen and no matter if you are a user of Facebook. Only residents of the U.S. and Canada cannot request their data!’

Americans and Canadians have a much less satisfactory option of downloading their own data. The company only relinquishes a very limited scope of information,no way indicative of the true depth and nature of information Facebook keeps stowed away.

Apparently, the European push for data requests panned out. Those demanding their information received responses from Facebook informing them that they are currently too overwhelmed with requests to abide by the 40-day rule. Americans and Canadians are restricted to pressing Facebook’s server power instead of its manpower.

One angry man from Austria said he was perturbed that a company could amass that much data, adding that his concern stems from the leverage garnered when any one entity has too much information.

‘Information is power, and information about people is power over people. It’s frightening that all this data is being held by Facebook,’ he said.

The issue of retained data has long been an issue for Facebook, one that has received public attention. Does anyone remember hactivist group Anonymous and its oath to single-handedly dismantle Facebook? In a dramatic letter announcing the group’s plot, the authors of Operation Facebook referenced Facebook’s information gathering practices as a key motivation for their attack:

 ‘Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your privacy settings, and deleting your account is impossible. Even if you delete your account, all your information stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time.’

The date set for the promised Facebook apocalypse? Saturday, Nov. 5.

If you’re European and concerned about your data, file a request for access. You can print out a few hundred pages of any possibly damning information you thought you deleted. If you’re an American or a Canadian worried that Facebook still has the picture of you at the kegger that could keep you from ever getting a job, well, the best you can do is hope for a Facebook Rapture.

Jessica Smith is a senior information management and technology and television, radio and film major. Her column appears every Tuesday. She can be reached at [email protected].

Published on October 31, 2011 at 12:00 pm