Zoom Promises Not to Utilize User Data for Artificial Intelligence Development
Zoom has made another change to its terms of service in response to criticism. Initially, the updated terms allowed the platform to use customer data for AI training without explicit consent. However, after facing backlash, Zoom has now clarified that it will not use any consumer data for AI training, whether from Zoom or third parties. The previous wording, which mentioned “customer consent,” was questionable as it was unclear how consent was obtained during a call where the meeting organizer had already agreed to the terms.
Zoom’s changes are listed in the introduction to its previous blog post. “Following feedback on Zoom’s recently updated Terms of Service, specifically our new generative AI features, Zoom has updated our Terms of Service and the blog post below to make it clear that Zoom does not use your voice, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments, or other communications such as customer content (such as survey results, whiteboard and reactions) to train Zoom or third-party AI models,” the announcement reads.
In fact, the previously awkward section 10 of Zoom’s terms of use, which deals with artificial intelligence and consumer data, has also changed. “Zoom does not use your audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachment, or other communication-like customer content (such as survey results, whiteboard, and reactions) to train Zoom or third-party AI models,” the updated version reads. A previous version of this section added the phrase “without customer consent,” although Zoom made concessions in response to the backlash. But since “consent” appeared to be granted simply by joining a meeting (perhaps even required for your job) and acknowledging the pop-up, some users saw this as a potentially permissive loophole for collecting AI data in situations where people don’t have much choice. The new version removes this ambiguity.
“We’ve updated our Terms of Service (in Section 10) to confirm that Zoom does not use your audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments, or other communications, such as your customer content (such as survey results, whiteboards, and reactions) to train Zoom’s or third-party AI models “, Hashim stated in a revised blog post. “Additionally, we have updated our in-product notices to reflect this.”
