Zoom agrees to $85 million settlement in privacy lawsuit

Zoom, the popular video conference software, has agreed to pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit that focused on user privacy.

Reuters reports that the suit says Zoom violated users' privacy rights by sharing personal data with big tech companies like Facebook and Google and let hackers "Zoombomb" meetings.

Zoom exploded in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic, but issues plagued the software early on. The company initially said that it offered end-to-end encryption, but actually didn't. "Zoomboming," where a hacker or other nefarious person interrupted meetings they weren't invited to, seemed to occur regularly in the early days of the pandemic.

The proposed settlement, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, would establish a fund of $85 million to pay to victims. As Reuters reports, subscribers who are eligible to be in the class action would get 15% refunds or $25, whichever is higher. Other users could get up to $15.

The company, which denies any wrongdoing as part of the settlement, also agreed to beef up security measures including providing "in-meeting notifications to make it easier for users to understand who can see, save, and share Zoom users’ information and content by alerting users when a meeting host or another participant uses a third-party application during a meeting."

It also agreed to disclose in its privacy statement that Zoom users can share user data with third parties via third-party software.

In a statement to Reuters, a Zoom spokesperson said: "The privacy and security of our users are top priorities for Zoom, and we take seriously the trust our users place in us."

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