BRUSSELS - The data protection agency in any EU country should be able to bring legal action even if they are not the lead authority, a senior adviser to the EU's top court recommended on Wednesday in a case involving Facebook.

The case before the EU court came after Belgium's privacy regulator sought to stop Facebook gathering information on Belgian users' browsing behaviour through cookies to show them targeted advertising without their valid consent.

Facebook challenged this on the basis that the Irish privacy watchdog is the lead authority for Facebook in the European Union as the company's European head office is in Ireland.

  - Reuters