Over 11,000 Europeans are suing Facebook at once

Grab a map, because we’re going around the world on this one. A Viennese privacy activist is suing Facebook’s Irish subsidiary, in Vienna, under California law, over the US company’s alleged participation in the NSA’s global PRISM spy program. Law360 reports that Max Schrems, a law student and founder of the Europe v. Facebook consumer group is demanding 500 euro in damages per eligible Facebook user.

On Friday the Europe vs Facebook privacy campaign group kicked off a new legal initiative targeting Facebook — in the form of a class action lawsuit that’s inviting adult non-commercial Facebook users located anywhere outside the US and Canada to join in. Today, the group told TechCrunch its civil action has pulled in some 11,000 participants so far, in the first weekend since launch. The largest proportion of participants (about 50%) are currently coming from German-speaking countries, followed by “high number” from the Netherlands, Finland and the UK. “Reasonable numbers come from all European countries and South America,” added a Europe vs Facebook spokesperson.