Zoom Class Action Alleges Privacy Violations

UPDATE: On Dec. 2, 2020, Zoom filed a motion to dismiss several class action lawsuits filed this year claiming privacy invasions and harm. 

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Zoom Video Communications by a user who claims that the company disclosed personal information to Facebook.

Robert Cullen says Zoom has become a popular teleconferencing software as many individuals are stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Individuals can access Zoom in different ways, either through a smartphone or via a web browser, the plaintiff states. Users can host and join web conferences from home or wherever they happen to be, according to the Zoom class action lawsuit.

While Zoom purports to keeping users’ information private, the company’s inadequate program design has resulted in unauthorized disclosure of personal information to third-parties such as Facebook, the plaintiff maintains.

The Zoom class action lawsuit also states that on March 26, 2020 a report posted on Vice states that when users open the Zoom app, it notifies Facebook with such information as the type of device they are using, what time zone they are connecting from, which phone carrier they are using, as well as a unique advertiser identifier.

The plaintiff maintains that this information is sent to Facebook whether or not the user has an account with the social networking software.

The Zoom class action lawsuit claims that if users would have known the company used inadequate security measures as well as permit third-parties to access information, they would not have signed up and used the conferencing services.

“Zoom’s failure to implement adequate security protocols and failure to provide accurate disclosures to its users violated those users’ privacy and falls well short of Zoom’s promises,” Cullen alleges.

On March 27, 2020,Zoom publicly admitted they send information to Facebook when a user logs onto their system and that this started happening when the company implemented a “login with Facebook” feature using Facebook’s software development kit (SDK) for iOS, states the Zoom class action lawsuit.

In addition, Zoom released a new version of their app which allegedly no longer sends users’ information to Facebook and other third-parties, the plaintiff says. However, Cullen argues that the harm to him and other putative Class Members has already been done. 

Also, even though the company has updated the app with new features, this will not stop third-parties from accessing personal information from those who are using a prior version of the app, the plaintiff argues.

Cullen alleges that “unless users affirmatively update their Zoom App, they likely will continue to unknowingly send unauthorized personal information to Facebook, and perhaps other third parties.”

Additionally, Zoom has not made sure that Facebook and other third-parties have deleted the personal information previously collected without adequate notice from the users, the Zoom class action lawsuit continues.

According to the plaintiff, Zoom has not taken any steps to compensate its users for failing to safeguard their personal information, which was in violation of their right of privacy and California’s consumer protection laws.

Cullen says Zoom has breached its duties by failing to implement reasonable security measures and protocols and by knowingly disclosing users’ personal information to third-parties for marketing purposes without obtaining consent from its users.

“In failing to adequately secure Plaintiff’s and Class members’ personal information, Defendant acted in reckless disregard of their privacy rights. Defendant knew or should have known that their substandard security measures are highly invasive and offensive to a reasonable person in the same position as Plaintiff and Class members,” the Zoom class action lawsuit argues.

The plaintiff claims that Zoom violated the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 and the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act and has filed claims for unlawful and unfair business practices, negligence, invasion of privacy, and unjust enrichment.

Common questions of law in the Zoom class action lawsuit include: 1) whether the defendant failed to safeguard users’ personal property; 2) whether the defendant engaged in unfair and deceptive practices by not safeguarding users’ personal information; 3) whether the defendant collected and disclosed users’ personal information to third parties; and 4) whether the plaintiff is entitled to injunctive relief due to the actions of the defendant.

Prospective Class Members in this class action lawsuit include: “All persons and businesses in the United States whose personal or private information was collected and/or disclosed by Zoom to a third party upon installation or opening of the Zoom video conferencing application (the ‘Class’).”

Have you used Zoom for web conferencing? Let us know in the comments section below.

The plaintiff is represented by Mark J. Tamblyn and Kenneth A. Wexler of Wexler Wallace LLP and Daniel E. Gustafson, David A. Goodwin and Ling S. Wang of Gustafson Gluek PLLC.

The Zoom Privacy Class Action Lawsuit is Cullen v. Zoom Video Communications Inc., Case No. 5:20-cv-02155, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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