EU High Court Rules Against Facebook

The EU’s highest court has ruled that Facebook must defend its privacy policy against a consumer lawsuit in an Austrian court. The suit concerns claims by an Austrian resident, Max Schrems, that Facebook violated data-protection laws in respect to his private Facebook account, plus the accounts of other users who assigned him their claims. The dispute over jurisdiction was heard by Austria’s Supreme Court, which referred the question of Schrems’ status to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The court concluded that Schrems’ use of his Facebook account is that of a consumer because he uses a separate Facebook page for his professional activities. Thus, he is accorded the privacy rights of a consumer. However, the court rejected the notion that others could benefit from his consumer status to join his lawsuit. Facebook had argued that Schrems forfeited the right to a consumer forum, and would have to sue in Ireland, where the subsidiary through which it makes contracts with EU users, Facebook Europe, is based.