Austrian court rejects jurisdiction over Facebook privacy lawsuit

A court in Austria has rejected a class-action lawsuit against Facebook alleging invasion of privacy, saying it lacks jurisdiction in the case.

The suit was brought by Austrian law student Max Schrems on behalf of 25,000 Facebook users who claimed the social network is illegally tracking their data, including by providing them to U.S. intelligence agencies.

Vienna regional court spokeswoman Beatrix Engelmann said the court concluded Schrems didn't have the automatic right to bring the case in his home country because he was acting more as an organization because of the website he ran than a consumer.

It didn't say where he might have the right to bring the case, and didn't rule on the substance of the complaint.

Schrems says he plans to appeal the decision.

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Online: http://www.europe-v-facebook.org