Zoom continues to face backlash over its privacy and security practices. In particular, concerns have been raised regarding the lack of end-to-end encryption, the prevalence of “zoombombing” (when uninvited participants join an ongoing Zoom meeting), and the fact that the company was apparently sending user information to Facebook. While many of these issues have been addressed by the company, they have also already led to at least two class actionlawsuits. In response to concerns, Zoom’s CEO has stated that the company is working on reevaluating and tweaking some features.
HuffPost published an article highlighting the connections between Clearview AI, the facial recognition technology firm which has significant partnerships with law enforcement agencies, and the far-right movement in the United States.
A group of over 130 European scientists, technologists and experts has founded the Pan European Privacy Protecting Proximity Tracking organization. Its mission is to supply a technological solution to the COVID-19 crisis which adheres to European privacy and data protection laws and principles. The group is currently working on an app which would generate only temporary IDs and use Bluetooth technology to track interactions between individuals.
(Compiled by student fellow Stav Zeitouni)