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Facebook users have responded in their thousands after a lawsuit was set up to challenge the social network over its privacy controls.

A total of 25,000 people signed up to Europe versus Facebook class suit, set up by Austrian student Max Schrems last week.

Mr Schrems is demanding damages of €500 (£397) per supporter for alleged data protection violations - and if successful it could cost Facebook at least €12.5 million (£10 million).

A total of 25,000 people have signed up to Facebook class suit, set up by Austrian student Max Schrems last week. It is claiming Facebook violates data protection laws through features including Graph Search (pictured). This feature lets users discover information about other member's likes and activities

The suit has been billed as a 'David and Goliath lawsuit' and it could ultimately be the largest class and privacy action ever taken in Europe.

Mr Schrems said he limited the campaign to 25,000 people because each claim has to be properly vetted, but admitted the actual figure exceeded this.

'We are only claiming a small amount, as our primary objective is to ensure correct data protection,' Mr Schrems said.

The allegations centre around three main concerns.

These include Facebook's Graph Search, which lets users discover information about other member's likes and activities, external website tracking, which monitors Likes on other sites, and big data analysis, which analyses interactions between members. 

The lawsuit is being taken in the Commercial Court in Vienna against the Irish subsidiary of the New York-listed web giant.

Mr Schrems is moving his Europe-V-Facebook.org campaign from complaints to the Data Protection Commission in Ireland, to the courts in his homeland, as European consumer law allows complainants to take legal action where they live.

The privacy activist has more than 20 complaints of alleged data breaches involving Facebook filed with the Irish data watchdog already.

The class action in Vienna claims Facebook Ireland is in breach of European law on users' data, and that it violates rights by tracking internet use on external sites including the use of 'Like' buttons.

Law student Mr Schrems  is claiming damages of €500 (£397) per supporter for the alleged violations, billed as a 'David and Goliath lawsuit'. He said he limited the campaign to 25,000 people because each claim has to be properly vetted, but admitted the actual figure exceeded this

The lawsuit is being taken in the Commercial Court in Vienna against the Irish subsidiary of the New York-listed web giant. Therefore, it only applies to users who have a contract with Facebook Ireland and is not available to users in the US and Canada. It could end up costing Facebook at least €12.5 million (£10 million)

Mr Schrems additionally criticised the company for allegedly supporting the US Prism surveillance programme - the National Security Agency's secret monitoring and data mining exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

An earlier landmark battle, launched in Ireland to find out what Facebook tells US spy chiefs, was referred to the European Court of Justice by a judge in Dublin last month.

Facebook declined to comment. 

Mr Schrems said he is the only claimant under the Austrian legal system, but the action is being financed entirely by Roland ProzessFinanz AG.

If successful, Roland will receive 20 per cent of the damages for putting up the funding.

Mr Schrems added: 'We love to complain constantly about data protection problems in Europe, now it's also time for us to enforce our fundamental rights.

'In the beginning we made great progress in Ireland. As a result of our complaints, Facebook had to delete data and deactivate its facial recognition all over the world.'