Another lawsuit is filed against Zoom over alleged privacy problems
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Zoom Video Communications has been hit with a new privacy lawsuit alleging that it failed to protect user data from Facebook and LinkedIn.
The latest lawsuit was filed Monday by Loevy & Loevy on behalf of Zoom user Todd Hurvitz, according to a blog post by the law firm.
It follows other consumer suits targeting Zoom for allegedly sharing an identifier profile with Facebook that gives marketers insights into demographics and preferences.
Zoom has also been sued by an investor who claims that the company failed to disclose known problems with its software encryption and privacy, damaging share value, Ars Technica reports.
Hurwitz’s lawsuit, a would-be class action filed in Los Angeles federal court, names as defendants Zoom, Facebook and LinkedIn. The suit alleges unjust enrichment, intrusion upon seclusion, invasion of privacy, unfair business practices, and trespass to owners’ computers and mobile devices.
According to the suit, Facebook created detailed profiles on users who installed the Zoom app that benefited Facebook’s targeted advertising business. The profiles also helped Zoom profit by helping it more accurately target users for additional services and convert them to paying customers, according to the suit.
LinkedIn had a sales tool to target prospective customers called LinkedIn Sales Navigator that cost a minimum of $780 per year. Zoom offered users the ability to integrate the LinkedIn Sales Navigator app into the Zoom platform.
That allowed people hosting Zoom meetings to see LinkedIn details of meeting participants, even when participants sought to keep their personal details anonymous, the suit says. At the same time, LinkedIn was able to collect Zoom users’ information, the suit says.
The suit also claims that Zoom used an inferior form of encryption for video communications.
The shareholder lawsuit, also a would-be class action, was filed April 7 in San Francisco federal court on behalf of shareholder Michael Drieu, report Ars Technica, Reuters, CNBC and a press release.
Zoom has said it removed tracking software that sent data to Facebook on the latest version of its app. It has also updated its privacy policy to be more clear about what data is collected and how it is used. The company says it never sold the data, and it won’t do so in the future.
Zoom has also hired former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos as an adviser to help improve security and privacy, Computerworld reports.
