Zoom misses target to reveal government requests for data
Video conferencing company Zoom has missed its own deadline with regards to a transparency report into government requests for company data.
The company had said that it would release the information by the end of last month. however, the post has since been updated to inform users that will not be happening as soon as they might have hoped.
“We are improving our global policy to respond to these types of requests. We will outline this policy as part of our transparency report, to be published later this year,” Zoom wrote.
CEO Eric Yuan claimed the company has “made significant progress defining the framework and approach for a transparency report that details information related to requests Zoom receives for data, records or content.”
The Independent has reached out to Zoom for a more detailed timeframe for the report's release.
Yuan referenced a recently published guide detailing how Zoom responds to government requests for its data.
In all countries, Zoom says, “government requests must be issued pursuant to applicable laws and rules and through official channels, including by requiring an official, signed document, or a request by email sent from the official email address of a government entity.”
It also says that each request must be clear with a valid legal basis, and Zoom will reject or challenge requests that do not meet these requirements.
“We will apply additional scrutiny to certain government requests for user information based on our principles and interest in promoting meaningful collaboration around the world, as described below,” the company also said.
Information provided by users to Zoom can include:
Identifying information, including, name, username, email address, or phone number, as well as account owner name, billing name and address, and payment method (we do not store any user credit card information); for Zoom Phone users, the phone number dialed;
Other account data, including language preference, hashes of the password, title, department, profile photo; and
User content that a user chooses to store to the Zoom cloud or provide to us, including cloud recordings, transcripts, chat and instant messages, files, whiteboards, voicemails for Zoom Phone users.
As well as this, the company reiterated previous commitments it has made. This includes a 90-day feature freeze in order to update its privacy and security capabilities, offering end-to-end encryption for all users, turning on passwords by default, and allowing custom data routing.
Recently, Zoom came under fire for closing the account of Chinese activist Zhou Fengsuo at the behest of the Chinese government.
The account was closed because Zhou, and other activists, held a digital event commemorating the Tienanmen Square Massacre.
In response, Zoom said that it had to comply with local law and reactivated the account.
It is unclear whether that request, in hindsight, would have been against, or in line with, Zoom’s “principles and interests.” The Independent has requested clarification from the company.
Read more
Google Meet adds new features as it takes on Zoom
Can we really mourn properly over Zoom?
Best games to play on Zoom, Houseparty and FaceTime video chats
