Video conferencing company Zoom has agreed to pay $ 86m (£ 61.9m) to settle a class action lawsuit in the US.
The lawsuit states that Zoom has encroached on the privacy of millions of its users by passing on their information to tech giants like Facebook, Google and LinkedIn.
Allegations
It also accused Zoom of falsely stating that it is adept in providing end-to-end encryption even when it was failing to prevent hackers from entering any random zoom session, a phenomenon known as Zoombombing.
The company has denied any wrongdoing, but has agreed to increase its security measures.
What Did Zoom Say?
The initial payment, including the provision that Zoom will provide its employees with specialized training in data management and privacy, is still subject to approval by U.S. Regional Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California.
A Zoom spokesman said: “Our users ‘privacy and security are our top priorities at Zoom, and we take our users’ trust seriously.
We are proud of the progress we have made on our part, and look forward to continuing to innovate with privacy and security going forward. “
The Lawsuit
The case was filed in March 2020 in the US Regional Court in the Northern California Region, just one of the few legal complaints against the company.
The case is filed in the name of Zoom Meetings paid subscribers nationwide, as well as free users.
According to the plaintiff’s attorneys, US Zoom subscribers helped generate almost $ 1.3bn in revenue for the video conferencing company.
In the event that the approval is done, subscribers who are included in the class lawsuit may qualify for a refund of 15% of their subscription or $ 25, whichever is greater, while others may receive up to $ 15.
