Who watches the watchers?
Businesses and schools are relying on teleconferencing options like Zoom, and brands are releasing playful backgrounds so self-isolating workers can turn playrooms into sunny beaches. But questions are being raised about the tech company’s privacy protections—or lack thereof. Zoom reserves the right to store users’ personal data, including the recordings of video calls, instant messages and files sent through the program, according to research by Consumer Reports.
The Zoom app for iOS also sends personal data to Facebook, even if users don’t have Facebook accounts. “The Zoom app notifies Facebook when the user opens the app, details on the user's device such as the model, the time zone and city they are connecting from, which phone carrier they are using, and a unique advertiser identifier created by the user's device which companies can use to target a user with advertisements,” reports Motherboard.
The question is, will privacy concerns fall to the wayside as consumers become more concerned by their own health and safety?