By Natalia Drozdiak and Nicole Lundeen
BRUSSELS--A Viennese court on Wednesday said it rejected a
complaint by a 27 year-old Austrian activist against social media
giant Facebook because the court ruled it didn't have jurisdiction
for a case that has become a highly publicized fight.
"The court rejected the complaint because the international
jurisdiction doesn't apply," a spokeswoman for the Viennese
regional civil court said.
The court's decision is a boon for Facebook which has faced
widespread criticism on its data privacy policies in the European
Union. Belgium's data-protection watchdog in June said it is suing
the California-based firm over its privacy practices, a sharp
escalation in a set of probes across five EU member states.
Max Schrems, a recent law-school graduate from Austria, filed a
class-action style civil suit in August 2014 against the social
media heavyweight for alleged privacy violations. Mr. Schrems, who
is representing some 25,000 Facebook users outside of North America
and runs an organization called Europe vs. Facebook, alleges that
Facebook's data-use policy is invalid under EU law, that there is
insufficient effective consent to many types of its use of data,
that Facebook tracks its users on external websites through 'Like
buttons,' and that Facebook passes on user's data to external
applications without authorization.
He is suing for 500 euros ($559) in damages for each of the
suit's participants, for a total of EUR12.5 million in damages.
Preliminary proceedings were held in April 2015 to determine
whether the Vienna court has jurisdiction in the case.
The Vienna court said it didn't have jurisdiction in the case
because the plaintiff can't be considered a consumer since he has
used Facebook for professional reasons. It also said the class
action style lawsuit that Mr. Schrems is planning can't be brought
before an Austrian court.
"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," Mr. Schrems' lawyer Wolfram Proksch said.
Mr. Schrems intends to appeal the decision to a higher regional
court, according to a statement on his website.
"This litigation was unnecessary and we're pleased that the
court has roundly rejected these claims," a Facebook spokeswoman
said. She added that the company would continue to work with its
regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, to address any
questions about Facebook's commitment to protecting people's
information.
The Viennese regional court agreed with Facebook's lawyer
Nikolaus Pitkowitz, who had argued in April that the court doesn't
have jurisdiction. Mr. Pitkowitz had argued that the proper place
for litigation against the defendant would be Facebook's
headquarters in Ireland or California.
Facebook's lawyers have also said the content of the suit was
unjustified and that the lawsuit and Mr. Schrems' use of Facebook
were careerist and have a commercial intent.
Sam Schechner in Paris contributed to this article.
Write to Natalia Drozdiak at natalia.drozdiak@wsj.com and Nicole
Lundeen at nicole.lundeen@wsj.com
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