Zoom, the popular video conferencing platform, recently updated its Terms of Service in March, stating that it has the right to train artificial intelligence (AI) on user data without providing an opt-out option. However, in a recent blog post, Zoom executives reassure users that they have no reason to worry.
According to Zoom’s legal documents, user video, audio, and chat transcripts are referred to as “Customer Content.” By agreeing to Zoom’s terms, users grant the company a license to use this content for machine learning, AI training, and various other product development purposes. The company also reserves similar rights for “Service Generated Data,” which includes telemetry data and product usage data obtained from analyzing user behavior.
These policy changes gained attention after a post on the Hacker News forum sparked outrage over the weekend. In response, Zoom’s Chief Product Officer, Smita Hashim, published a blog post clarifying that the company does use data for machine learning purposes, but it does not use audio, video, or chat content without customer consent.
Zoom offers additional AI-related features, such as “Zoom IQ,” which includes chat thread summarization and automated response generation. Enabling these features grants Zoom permission to collect data for AI model training and improvement.
Although Zoom claims that users have the choice to enable or disable generative AI features and decide whether to share customer content for product improvement, it remains unclear how users can opt out of allowing the company to train its AI on service-generated content.
Zoom has faced privacy-related controversies in the past, including offering end-to-end encryption only to paying users and sharing user data with Google and Facebook without proper disclosure. The company reached an $85 million settlement over these issues in 2021.
Despite the reassurances, some users may remain skeptical about Zoom’s privacy practices. As the company faces scrutiny, it will need to provide more transparency and options for users concerned about the use of their data.
