The legal proceeding in which Max Schrems is accusing Facebook
of data privacy violations in connection with his personal Facebook
account and the accounts of seven other Facebook users is pending
since 2014. On 25 January 2018, the European Court of Justice (ECJ)
at least resolved the question of jurisdiction.
Schrems based the jurisdiction of the Regional Civil Court in
Vienna on the Council Regulation (EC) on jurisdiction and the
recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial
matters (EuGVVO). According to this Regulation, a consumer may
bring proceedings against an entrepreneur in the courts for the
place where the consumer is domiciled. However, Schrems did not
just evoke this jurisdiction in respect of his own claims against
Facebook, but also for the claims assigned to him by seven
additional Facebook users from Austria, Germany and India.
