Zoom changed Terms of Service for Data Collection and Force Arbitration

On May 31, 2023, Zoom updated their terms of service to allow force arbitration and collection of customers data for the purposes of training their artificial intelligence companion, only allowing a 30 day period for consumers to opt out of data collection via an email.

Background

Owned by Zoom Communications, Zoom workplace or commonly referred as Zoom, is a video calling platform allowing that can be downloaded on devices and be used for free. On September 2023, Zoom Corporation would announce Zoom AI Companion, an AI tool that allows for automatic post-meeting, call, chat, and email summaries.

Incident

Force Arbitration Agreement

On April 1, 2023, Zoom sent an email to all users that they have updated their terms of service that forces users into forced arbitration and data collection for use with their Artificial intelligence tool. The user is able to send an opt-out request in a period of 30 days since April 2023 or since the day the account was created.

27.11 Opt-Out. You may reject this Arbitration Agreement and opt out of arbitration by sending an email to [email protected] within (i) thirty (30) calendar days of April 1, 2023 if you are an existing user, or (ii) thirty (30) calendar days of the date you created your account if you are a new user. Your opt-out notice must be individualized and must be sent from the email address associated with your individual Zoom account. An opt-out notice that purports to opt out multiple parties will be invalid as to all such parties. No individual (or their agent or representative) may effectuate an opt out on behalf of other individuals. Your notice to opt-out must include your first and last name, address, the email address associated with your Zoom account, and an unequivocal statement that you decline this Arbitration Agreement. If you do decide to opt out, that opt out will apply to this Arbitration Agreement and all previous versions thereof, and neither party will have the right to compel the other to arbitrate any Dispute. However, all other parts of this Arbitration Agreement will continue to apply to you, and opting out of this Arbitration Agreement has no effect on any other arbitration agreements that you may enter into in the future with us.

Later on, Zoom changes their agreement to allow National Arbitration & Mediation (NAM) to decide for cases, and requiring users to send opt-out request on their behalf.

Your opt-out notice must be individualized and must be sent from the email address associated with your individual Zoom account. An opt-out notice that purports to opt out multiple parties will be invalid as to all such parties. No individual (or their agent or representative) may effectuate an opt out on behalf of other individuals.

Terms of Service Prompt

Consumer response

Response to the new updated terms of service received a mix of anger, fear, and concern from consumers over no methods of opting out data collection. After the company response, privacy experts warned the possible of misuse, commenting it doesn't prevent the company from collecting data regardless if users opted-out.

Zoom Corporation Response

After public backlash and traction from news outlets. Zoom corporation issued an public statement highlighting an updated terms of service where they won't use customer's data without consent to train Artificial intelligence.

It’s important to us at Zoom to empower our customers with innovative and secure communication solutions. We’ve updated our terms of service (in section 10.4) to further confirm that we will not use audio, video, or chat customer content to train our artificial intelligence models without your consent.