The Times
Facebook has been given four weeks to respond to a European class-action lawsuit over its privacy rules.
There are 25,000 claimants who are claiming damages of €500 (£400) each for alleged data protection breaches by the social network. Around 1,000 claimants are based in the UK. The action is being led by Max Schrems, a 26-year-old Austrian law student and privacy campaigner. The claim has been accepted by the regional court in Vienna after it was rejected by the commercial court.
Facebook can apply for a four-week extension to lodge its defence. If it fails to do so, the court can award judgment to the claimants by default.
Mr Schrems said: “We love to complain constantly about data protection problems in Europe. Now it’s also time for us to enforce our fundamental rights.” Among the allegations made by Mr Schrems are that Facebook has committed unlawful acts such as supporting the National Security Agency’s surveillance programme, Prism, and passing on data from its users’ profiles without consent.
The claim is being brought against Facebook Ireland, which runs the network’s operations outside of the United States. Facebook declined to comment.