As a neighborhood of the settlement, you’ll be eligible to receive anywhere between $11 and $34.
Zoom is about to pay $85 million to settle the class-action lawsuit that alleged Zoom lied about offering end-to-end encryption. The settlement still has yet to be approved, but once it’s, you’ll be eligible to receive a little payout.
Zoom Pays Up for Privacy Issues
Zoom’s proposed agreement is currently under review by US District Judge Lucy Koh. The now-ubiquitous video conferencing platform became the middle of controversy after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) discovered that Zoom could also be deceiving users about their security.
In 2016 and 2017, Zoom advertised that it had end-to-end encryption when actually, it didn’t. The platform only began to support end-to-end encryption in October of 2020.
Zoom agreed with the FTC in November 2020 and promised to enhance its security protections. The controversy triggered a class-action lawsuit, which alleges that Zoom gave users a false sense of security.
The suit even addresses “Zoombombing,” otherwise referred to as the act of crashing into a random and unsecured Zoom meeting. That’s still not the top of the lawsuit’s grievances. However—it also alleges that Zoom gave users’ private information to 3rd parties, like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
A-Zoom spokesperson commented on the settlement during a statement to NPR but didn’t acknowledge its security issues: “The privacy and security of our users are top priorities for Zoom, and that we take seriously the trust our users place in us. We are pleased with the advancements we’ve made to our platform, and appearance forward to continuing to innovate with privacy and security at the forefront.”
Zoom Is Compensating Its Users, Too
Whether you are a free or paid user of Zoom, you would possibly see a tiny amount of money coming your way.
Members that purchased the platform between March 30, 2016, and July 30, 2021, “will be eligible to receive the 15 percent of the cash they paid to Zoom for his or her core Zoom Meetings subscription during that point or $25, whichever is bigger .”
If 15 percent of your Zoom subscription is worth quite $25, you’ll receive around $34, but this also depends on what percentage people file a claim. The more folks that file a claim, the less money there’s to travel around. And if you used the platform for free of charge, you continue to won’t be left out—you may receive anywhere between $11 to $12.
Will the Lawsuit Change Anything?
As a neighborhood of the settlement, Zoom has agreed to form a series of changes that will effectively reverse all of the lawsuit’s complaints. If Zoom complies, it should, in theory, become a way safer platform.
