Facebook is being sued by some 25,000 users for alleged violations of European privacy laws in a class action suit in a Vienna court.
The claim, led by Max Schrems, Austrian data protection campaigner focuses on the way Facebook collects and forwards data.
It has been brought against Facebook’s European headquarters in Dublin, which registers all accounts outside the US and Canada.
The legal action also claims privacy laws are breached in the way the networking giant monitors users when they use the site’s “like” buttons.
Schrems, a law graduate, wants to stop what he calls mass surveillance by the social networking site.
He also alleges the company co-operated with Prism, a surveillance system launched in 2007 by the US National Security Agency.
The case includes a compensation claim of about €500 ($539;£362) per person.
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