Since Viennese law student Max Schrems filed a class-action lawsuit and petitioned U.S. and Canadian Facebook users to join him last Friday, more than 11,000 users have signed on to sue Facebook. Claimants are to expect €500, or $671, in damages if they win.
“It is much more than we expected,” Schrems told IT World. (RELATED: Facebook Faces European Class-Action Lawsuit Over Privacy)
According to Schrems, Facebook has violated European privacy laws, collaborated with the NSA and has not complied with the Right to Access (among other things). (RELATED: So What Is The NSA ALLOWED To Do?)
“Our aim is to make Facebook finally operate lawfully in the area of data protection,” Schrems said in a statement. “Each additional participant also increases the pressure on Facebook.”
Well, Schrems is certainly getting what he wanted. According to IT World, 50 percent of those who have joined the class-action lawsuit are Austrian or German. It is unclear whether or not U.S. or Canadian users have signed on.