A senior fellow of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is one of the lead plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit against technology giant Oracle.

Dr Johnny Ryan is one of three class representatives in the case, which was filed against Oracle in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday (19 August).

Dr Ryan and two other plaintiffs – Michael Katz-Lacabe and Dr Jennifer Golbeck – are acting on behalf of worldwide internet users who claim that they have been subject to violations of their privacy by Oracle.

‘Surveillance machine’

The complaint alleges violations of the US Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Constitution of the State of California, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, competition law, and the common law.

“Oracle has violated the privacy of billions of people across the globe,” said Dr Ryan.

“This is a Fortune 500 company on a dangerous mission to track where every person in the world goes, and what they do. We are taking this action to stop Oracle’s surveillance machine,” he added.

The plaintiffs allege that Oracle is “an important part of the tracking and data industry” that has claimed to have amassed “detailed dossiers” on five billion people.

Oracle has not commented on the legal action.