News: Zoom fails to inform users of possible data sharing with Facebook

[Arcadia]

https://abc7news.com/technology/zoom-fails-to-inform-users-of-possible-data-sharing-with-facebook-tech-expert-says/6067247/
“SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A federal lawsuit filed against tech-giant Zoom Monday night alleging a breach of privacy is starting to raise serious questions among its users.

The video conference app has become a necessity for nearly everyone to communicate and conduct business during the COVID-19 crisis, but recent allegations stemming from the suit have heightened fears about security.
The suit comes after a report released last week accusing the company of sending analytics data to Facebook. According to Shara Tibken, a senior reporter with CNET News, that information should have been made clear in the company privacy policy.

"The issue with what Zoom did is they didn't actually tell users they were sending anything to Facebook, that is king of a huge no no," Tibken said after pointing out the company does have missing information in its privacy policy.

"Zoom its user agreement talks about sending information to advertisers or third-party partners like Google, it doesn't specifically mention Facebook."

Following the report, Zoom was quick to issue an apology to users admitting the information being collected was not necessary to provide their services.”

 

[Lanny]

In  recent weeks, there have been a bunch of things about Security issues in Zoom in the Google Feed on my phone.  The school my DD attends (like many other schools) has switched from in classroom to Zoom Online.  IMO there has been a huge increase in the number of Zoom users recently and so more people (including IT departments and Security types) are looking at the Security issues. With time, I believe it will be much safer. I suggested to DD that  at this time she not use it for anything other than her UNC courses, because of the Security issues. 

OT: Apparently Zoom is extremely advanced in comparison to Microsoft "TEAMS"

[PeterPan]

Looks like they've made some modifications. Not sure if they're the extent of what some people would want, but  https://threatpost.com/zoom-kills-ios-apps-data-sharing-facebook/154275/

[regentrude]

with all the actual problems people are facing right now, all I can muster is a tired "so what?" 

[Arcadia]

On 4/1/2020 at 5:20 AM, regentrude said:

with all the actual problems people are facing right now, all I can muster is a tired "so what?" 

@Lanny

FYI https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/03/26/zoombombers-disrupt-online-classes-racist-pornographic-content

“‘Zoombombing’ Attacks Disrupt Classes

Right off the bat, he said, one of the participants used a Zoom feature that lets a user display an image or a video in the background in order to show a pornographic video.

“I didn’t notice it until a student on chat said something about it,” said Gharavi, an associate professor in ASU's School of Film, Dance and Theater. Participants were using fake screen names, some of which he said were very offensive. "The chat window became incredibly active. Most of the comments were not on topic. They were vulgar, racist, misogynistic toilet humor. I would barely even call it humor."

Gharavi was not alone. The University of Southern California reported similar incidents occurring while professors taught classes on the same platform, indicating that the massive migration of college classes online due to the public health crisis came with a new threat -- one that's technical rather than biological. The professors were the victims of "Zoombombing" -- the "Zoom" in this case being the online meeting and course-hosting platform, and the "bombs" typically taking the form of racist vitriol or pornographic content shared with the group by an unwelcome user.

... 

USC -- where President Carol L. Folt reported Tuesday that some online Zoom classes were "disrupted by people who used racist and vile language that interrupted lectures and learning" -- has created a website with tips for how to prevent Zoombombing.

Zoom has also published a blog post on steps to take to keep would-be crashers out of Zoom meetings. The blog post gives tips on controlling access to meetings and setting up password protections and managing participants' ability to share their screens, as well as information on other options for controlling participants' activities including disabling participants' video, muting participants, turning off file transfer and annotation options, or disabling private chat functions. The company also suggests trying its waiting room feature, which it describes as "a virtual staging area that stops your guests from joining until you’re ready for them."”