Facebook facing a class-action privacy lawsuit in Austria

Facebook facing a class-action privacy lawsuit in Austria

The suit has officially been filed against Facebook Ireland, a subsidiary of Facebook that operates social media networks in many European countries.

Facebook is back on the stand for supposed privacy violations.

According to a report from PC Magazine, the global social media network’s most recent troubles have arisen in Austria, where a data protection activist named Max Schrems has launched a class-action lawsuit with the goal of protecting European users from what he believe is Facebook’s questionable conception of privacy. Schrems even launched a website called Europe-v-Facebook.org, with the goal of shedding light on Facebook’s alleged privacy and data infringements.

The suit has officially been filed against Facebook Ireland, a subsidiary of Facebook that operates social media networks in many European countries. Schrems believes that Facebook Ireland “is in breach of European law on users’ data” because it tracks Internet use through “Like” buttons, comments sections, and other interactive interfaces that most users would consider harmless.

Indeed, to take on the concept of the “Like” button is a new angle in the privacy battle with Facebook, which has fought its fair share of lawsuits for supposedly tracking its customers online. To be fair, Schrems’ lawsuit also includes attacks against Facebook’s more widely questioned use of “big data analysis,” which Facebook uses to monitor user activity and interests for the purpose of targeted advertisements.

Finally, Schrems is worried that Facebook may be too easily reachable for the NSA’s Prism program, and questions whether or not the site has passed information about European customers to the the United States Federal Government.

Schrems is a proven anti-Facebook activist, and has lodged some 20 complaints about the company with different courts throughout the EU. For this particular lawsuit, Schrems wants to get others involved, and is in the process of recruiting claimants for the class. Based on the lawsuit, each member of the class would receive €500 (or about $670) if the suit were to be successful.

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