Zoom has agreed to settle a class action privacy suit for $85 million over missteps the company made early in the pandemic.
Few companies have benefited as much or become so synonymous with pandemic-fueled remote work and learning as Zoom. Once a company that focused priorly on the enterprise, Zoom has become a household name, used across industries and demographics.
Unfortunately, its meteoric growth came with some major growing pains. The company overstated the level of encryption it provided; it used an SDK that sent data to Facebook without users’ permission; and it failed to provide the necessary security to prevent Zoom-bombing. The missteps were severe enough to prompt the company to enact a 90-day moratorium on new features until security issues could be addressed.
The company was the target of a number of lawsuits over the missteps, lawsuits which were consolidated into a single class action suit. Zoom has now agreed to settle and make changes to improve its security even more, according to ZDNet.
Among the changes the company will make is improved notifications to better inform users when a host uses a third-party application, as well as inform users who can access user information and content.
The plaintiffs are also requesting their legal fees be paid, which would add an additional $21.25 million to the settlement.