#rp26 speaker Albrecht von Sonntag & Max Schrems: Suing Big Tech, Enforcing Rights

Guided by the principle “move fast and break things,” the most powerful and wealthiest companies have expanded their dominance over the digital world. Today, they dictate and control how we communicate. In doing so, they disregard our digital rights and undermine fair competition. In theory, there are laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Markets Act, but in practice, these laws are neither sufficiently nor consistently enforced. What then is needed to enforce our rights? 

Together with Max Schrems and Albrecht von Sonntag, who are already fighting for their rights - and ours - in court, we want to discuss this question at #rp26. What needs to change in the long run, that people don’t have to go through the costly and time-consuming process of fighting for their rights in court? And how do you keep going when your opponents seem all-mighty? The discussion will be moderated by Katharina Meyer.

As the founder and volunteer executive director of his organization NOYB, austrian lawyer, author, and speaker Max Schrems has been successfully advocating for our data protection rights in the European Union for years. Through his efforts, he has already secured more than one billion euros in fines. Based on his lawsuits against Facebook, the European Court of Justice declared the EU-US data protection agreements “Safe Harbor” and “Privacy Shield” invalid.

Dr. Albrecht von Sonntag is a co-founder of idealo, which was founded in Berlin in 2000 and is now one of Europe’s leading price comparison platforms. For many years, Albrecht von Sonntag has been suing Google because the company he co-founded is being disadvantaged. Since then, he has already won 465 million euros in damages in the Berlin Regional Court. In addition to that, von Sonntag advocates for a strong European digital economy, a free and open internet, and the promotion of democratic structures in the digital space.