Like a double stop to a meteoric rise. Zoom, the popular video conferencing application of the moment, attracted in just one month as many new users as questions about its operation. Its use exploded in a few weeks with the generalization of telework caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Europe, the number of downloads for example quadrupled with 6.5 million users at the end of March, according to Sensor Tower, an organization that measures the popularity of applications. Practical for organizing virtual meetings, Zoom is a victim of its sudden success because it has also magnetized the worst of the Internet.
Neo-Nazi intrusions
On social networks, via the hashtag #zoombombed, American users testified that they suddenly saw pornographic or racist images and Nazi symbols invading their screens.
Malicious spirits have used the screen sharing function and the lack of default protection for meetings to broadcast illegal content in professional videoconferences or in high school lessons given online.
Our lecture got zoom bombed today đ #Zoombombed #zoombombing #zoombomb pic.twitter.com/S89gMuBD1G
- Will Williamson (@KingBrennymma) March 30, 2020Trespassing in a supposedly protected virtual space prompted New York State Attorney General Letitia James to send a harsh warning to Californian society.
"We have sent a letter to Zoom with a series of questions to ensure that the company takes appropriate measures to guarantee the privacy and security of users," said a spokesperson for the New York State Prosecutor. .
Data shared with Facebook
The company, founded in 2011, whose share price doubled on the New York Stock Exchange, assured "taking the privacy, security and trust of its users very seriously".
On the other coast of the United States, a âclass actionâ or group action has been initiated since Monday by a user. He criticizes the Zoom application, in its iPhone version, for not respecting the new Californian data protection law and the consent to share it with ... Facebook.
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The application transmitted until recently without authorization, the city, the model of smartphone used and even the user's mobile network. Valuable information to send him targeted advertisements. Zoom corrected this by offering an update that clears this defect, but it is not mandatory to continue joining virtual meetings.