Almost 20,000 people have joined an Austrian law student in a class action lawsuit against social network Facebook.
Max Schrems is accusing the California-based company of violating users' privacy and is claiming 500 euros, or $669, as damages per person.
The lawsuit was filed in Vienna's commercial court last week, and the 26-year-old has called on the over 1 billion Facebook users who live outside Canada and the U.S. to become a part of the claim. Facebook's privacy violations are widespread and violate the basic privacy granted by international law, he says.
The case has sparked international attention, and Schrems says response to his call for users to join has been "giant, much more than expected." Most of those who have joined in the battle hail from European countries, he adds.
"The emails and feedback have been really positive and what is interesting is that many people say finally someone is doing something in this direction," he says.
The law student says Facebook violated data regulations by aiding the United States National Security Agency (NSA) in collection of private personal data through its PRISM program, which whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed in early 2013.
The NSA used Facebook's collection of personal data and mined it without the users' knowledge, he claims.
It is the latest public outcry against private companies that have collected personal data and either sold it or allow it to be used by other companies, whether for government security or advertising purposes. It also highlights the frustration many in the general public currently have concerning the safety of their personal data on websites.
A new report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation has listed a number of top technology companies as the least trustworthy, raising fears that personal data and information may be compromised, Tech Times reports. The report listed Amazon.com, Snapchat and AT&T as the worst in the tech industry on handling government data requests.
The nonprofit privacy advocacy organization, in its fourth installment of "Who Has Your Back" report (PDF), ranks companies on a number of issues, including privacy and online security in their transparency reports.
