US online video conferencing platform Zoom has agreed to pay $ 85 million to settle privacy lawsuits, the group said on Sunday.
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While the video conferencing application has grown considerably "
during the Covid-19 pandemic
", according to the complaint documents, Zoom claimed to offer an end-to-end encrypted service.
But in March 2020, several plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in California.
A dozen major changes planned in its practices
They claimed that the app "
shared its users' data inappropriately and without their consent
."
In particular, they highlighted the fact that Zoom shared their data with companies using third-party software such as those from Facebook, LinkedIn Navigator or Google.
The out-of-court settlement, which awards $ 85 million in damages to the plaintiffs, has yet to be approved by federal judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California.
Zoom also agreed to undertake "
a dozen major changes in its practices in order to strengthen the security of meetings (on its application), the protection of private data
", states the memorandum of understanding.
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In an email to AFP, a Zoom spokesperson said: "
The privacy and security of our users are top priorities for Zoom, and we take the trust our users place in us seriously
." "
We are proud of the progress we have made on our platform and look forward to continuing to innovate by putting privacy and security at the forefront,
" added the spokesperson.