Austrian law student Max Schrems claims that techniques used by the US National Security Agency (NSA) mean that the privacy of his user data cannot be guaranteed

Austrian student Max Schrems will be able to bring a lawsuit over alleged privacy breaches against US social media giant Facebook in Vienna, an appeals court ruled Wednesday.

The announcement overturned a July ruling by a Vienna judge who had thrown out the case on the basis that her civil court lacked the jurisdiction to decide on the matter.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is yet to rule on Schrems' request to bring the case as a class action representing 25,000 plaintiffs worldwide.

© 2015 AFP