Thursday 2 July 2015

Facebook scores a win in European class action lawsuit, but the fight isn’t over

A court in Austria has ruled that it doesn’t have jurisdiction to pass judgement on the ongoing class action lawsuit levelled by Max Shcrem against Facebook for alleged privacy violations.
While Facebook trumpeted the decision as a significant victory in the case, that’s not necessarily the end of the matter – the case has been referred to a higher tribunal, not thrown out altogether.
“This litigation was unnecessary and we’re pleased that the court has roundly rejected these claims. We remain happy to work with our regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, to address any questions about our commitment to protecting people’s information,” a spokesperson for Facebook told TNW in a statement.
According to Reuters, Austrian student Schrem will appeal the verdict.
The case, which has more than 25,000 signatories, is seeking €500 ($555) in damages for each of the named participants and is based around objections to the way in which personal data is handled.
“This finding by the court is really very strange. Unfortunately it seems like the court wanted to forward this hot potato to the higher courts,” Schrems’ lawyer, Wolfram Proksch, said in a statement given to Reuters.
Facebook’s privacy measures and data protection are regulated under regulations from the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (IDPC), whichdedicated less than 100 words to the company in its annual report.

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