Facebook is facing another battle with privacy watchdogs today, as a court in Vienna, Austria, began the proceedings on a class action suit accusing the company of violating user privacy.
The lawsuit is being headed by Austrian law student, Max Schrems, on behalf of 25,000 people. Schrems is claiming damages of 500 euros (which equates to $538) each for a series of alleged violation of European Union laws, which even includes aiding the U.S. National Security Agency’s data mining PRISM program. The suit also includes illegal introduction of Graph Search and illegal data sharing with external apps.
The court session, which lasted four hours today, focused on if Schrems has the standing to file the suit on behalf of the 25,000 plaintiffs.
Facebook’s lawyer, Nikolaus Pitkowitz told the judge, “The lawsuit is inadmissible on the procedural level – the court is not responsible,”, according to Reuters. “It is unjustified in terms of content.”
At this point, Facebook’s lawyers aren’t addressing the details of the privacy issues in court. A written decision on if the court will be handling the suit is expected before summer.