Zoom agreed to pay $85 Million to settle a lawsuit alleging that the video conferencing company violated users privacy by sharing data with third parties without their permission. This was alleged to have enabled Zoombombing incidents.TechCrunch coined the term Zoombombing last year because it was so popular due to the pandemic. It describes people who are not approved entering Zoom calls and disrupting them by using offensive imagery, spreading hateful messages on backgrounds, and spouting vulgarities and slurs.The suit was filed in March 2020 at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. It also charged the company with sharing user data with third parties such as Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn.Zoom agreed to a $85 million settlement. Customers could receive a 15% refund or $25 for their subscription if the case is resolved as a class action. Zoom also stated that it will take additional measures to stop intruders from crashing meetings. These will include alerting users if meeting hosts or other participants use third party apps in meetings, and providing specialized training for employees regarding privacy and data handling.Zoom stated in a statement that privacy and security are of paramount importance to them. We also take seriously the trust they place in us. We are proud of all the improvements we have made to the platform and look forward to continuing our efforts to improve privacy and security.To be finalized, the settlement must be approved by Lucy Koh, US District Judge, San Jose, California.
