EU court adviser dismisses class-action lawsuit against Facebook
An attorney general of the European Court of Justice has ruled in an opinion to this court that an Austrian, who started a case against Facebook in 2014 for violating privacy, cannot do this collectively on behalf of 25,000 others.
Advocate General Michal Bobek rejects the possibility of a class action, because under Austrian law such a case can only be done if an Austrian company is sued; a collective case is not possible if an Austrian consumer sues a company in another EU Member State. According to Bobek, someone who is able to sue a foreign party in his own country for his own interests cannot also start a case for an entire group at the same time.
The Advocate General did indicate that a way to stand up for the collective rights of a group is needed in the EU, but according to Bobek, politics must make this possible through policy and legislation, and that is not up to the Court of Justice . Starting a class action case is not very common in Europe, unlike the practice of class action cases in the United States.
Austrian Max Schrems, a law student, can file a case against Facebook in his own home country, the solicitor general ruled in his non-binding advice. Facebook tried to prevent this by advocating that Schrems should not continue as a consumer, but should be seen as a company. In this way, Facebook probably tried to force Schrems to file a case in Ireland, where Facebook’s headquarters are located. That would create significant hurdles for Schrems, such as higher costs.
Schrems, who also brought about the Safe Harbor ruling, filed a complaint against Facebook in Vienna in 2014. People could register via a special page and at the time 25,000 people did so. Schrems is claiming 500 euros per person from Facebook, because the company is said to have committed various violations of privacy legislation.
The Vienna court rejected the possibility of a class-action case in 2015. According to the court, Schrems used Facebook commercially to promote his publications. Therefore, the judge found that he could not be regarded as a consumer, which meant that Schrems had to file his case in Dublin.
The case went to the highest Austrian court, which put questions to the EU Court; for example, it was necessary to clarify whether European law permits a party, in this case Max Schrems, to bring its own complaints and the complaints of other persons to court at the same time. The judge also wanted to know whether it matters that the participants in such a case live in different European Member States or outside the EU.