Facebook bid to stall class action lawsuit
Print Edition
Facebook presented a long list of procedural objections to an Austrian court yesterday trying to halt a class action lawsuit for 25,000 users that accuses the social media giant of violating their privacy.
The first day of hearings began with a four-hour session in which Facebook’s lawyers tried to convince the judge not to admit the suit brought by law student Max Schrems, 27, who is claiming 500 euros (US$538) in damages for each user.
The suit is the latest of several legal challenges in Europe and the United States to Facebook for the way it shares users’ personal data with businesses or governments. Schrems has said this may become a test case for European data protection laws.
“The lawsuit is inadmissible on the procedural level — the court is not responsible,” Facebook’s lawyer Nikolaus Pitkowitz told the judge. “It is unjustified in terms of content.”
Schrems accused Facebook of engaging in delaying tactics. “This is a typical strategy, because most consumers will run out of time and money,” he said.
The judge said a written decision on whether the court can handle the suit will come before the summer.
In the first hearing, attorneys for Schrems and Facebook battled on technical grounds about whether the student has the status of a private Facebook consumer and if the 25,000 plaintiffs are legally allowed to confer their rights on him.
Schrems is claiming damages for alleged data violations by Facebook, including by aiding the US National Security Agency in running its PRISM program, which mined the personal data of Facebook users.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
