The video conferencing giant which grew tremendously this year due to the pandemic has stated that it offered a higher level encryption for its conference calls than it actually did. This meant that participants were misinformed about the level of security when it came to storing meeting recordings.
In a statement, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, Andrew Smith, said, “During the pandemic, practically everyone- families, schools, social groups, businesses- is using video conferencing to communicate, making the security of these platforms more critical than ever.”
Adding that, “Zoom’s security practices didn’t line up with its promises, and this action will help to make sure that Zoom meetings and data about Zoom users are protected.”
Zoom has now said that it has the required security improvement have now been put in place as a result of the settlement with the FTC.
A statement issued by Zoom read: “We take seriously the trust our users place in us every day, particularly as they rely on us to keep them connected through this unprecedented global crisis, and we continuously improve our security and privacy programmes. We are proud of the advancements we have made to our platform, and we have already addressed the issues identified by the FTC.”
Under the terms of the agreement between the FTC and Zoom, the video conferencing giant would have to take specific steps towards addressing the problems which were raised and to review software updates for security issues. According to the FTC, the company has also been “prohibited from making misrepresentations about its privacy and security practices”. This includes the collection and use of customer data and “the extent to which users can control the privacy or security of their personal information”.