Zoom, the popular video conferencing platform, is now paying $85 million to its users as part of a full class-action lawsuit settlement. The company was accused of lying about its offering end-to-end encryption within its service while providing its user data to Facebook and Google even without the users' permission.
Zoom to Pay $85 Million Settlement
According to ArsTechnica, Zoom has currently agreed to pay $85 million in order to settle complaints made against the video conferencing giant. The proposal was reportedly filed on Saturday at the official US District Court for the Northern District of California.
The whole class-action settlement applies to all of the different categories of users regardless whether they actually have a paid or a free Zoom account. Despite the massive value of the settlement, this will only result in about $15 or $25 for every single user.
Zoom Promises to Improve Practices
According to 9to5Mac, in addition to the recently made agreement, Zoom now promises to improve its practices in order to improve both the security and privacy of the platform. Zoom has acquired Kites GmbH to help with the software's real-time translation.
It was noted that nine months after Zoom had previously agreed to secure improvements as well as a "prohibition on privacy and security misrepresentations" in a statement with the FTC, the Federal Trade Commission settlement, however, still did not include compensation for its users.
Zoom 'End-to-End Encryption'
In addition to the payments, Zoom has also agreed to over dozens of different major changes to the company's practices. This includes changes designed to help improve meeting security, safeguard consumer data, and even bolster privacy disclosures.
Back in 2020, it was also reportedly revealed that Zoom did not offer any form of end-to-end encryption despite the company claiming to do so. Following these particular reports, the platform was then updated with a much better encryption system as well as more privacy controls.
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Zoom Revenue Spike
With the whole ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom's massive revenue soared from just $622.7 million all the way up to $2.7 billion in the course of just 12 months! This year, Zoom is now expected to deliver even more results as more and more people are starting to use Zoom for not just work but also studying at home.
The article by ArsTechnica notes that the class lawyers will be getting their attorneys' fees which could go up to 25% of the whopping $85 million and even up to $200,00 in order to reimburse their expenses. The $85 million is small compared to the Zoom Q1 2021 revenue of $952 million.
There are also reportedly about a dozen named plaintiffs that are seeking approval of payments to receive amounting to $5,000 each. A particular hearing regarding the plaintiff's motion for preliminary approval of the widespread settlement is scheduled this coming October 21, 2021.
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Written by Urian B.
