Zoom Class Action Says Bible Study Interrupted By Porn

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

A church in California filed a class action lawsuit against Zoom over claims that a Bible study meeting was interrupted by a hacker who displayed a disturbing video. Allegedly, the hackers behind the incident were known offenders for this kind of cyberattack.

The use of Zoom, a video calling platform, has skyrocketed during the current pandemic. With it comes security concerns, as users and experts alike have critiqued alleged weaknesses in the platform that they say make it vulnerable to hackers.

The Zoom security issues class action lawsuit was filed by Saint Paulus Lutheran Church and church administrator Heddi N. Cundle.

The church explains that during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has held Bible study online via Zoom. However, on May 6 the meeting was allegedly interrupted via hackers who displayed disturbing pornography. The church and administrator say that the meeting was shut down, and Zoom was contacted.

According to Saint Paulus and Cundle, Zoom had not sufficiently implemented security measures that would prevent the situation, and did not respond appropriately in the wake of the event.

The Zoom security issues class action explains that when the Bible study group held a Zoom meeting online on March 6, within minutes, the computers of the participants were taken over by violate pornographic images.

Allegedly, this takeover also disabled the users’ control keys, which prevented them from exiting out of the videos.

Saint Paulus and Cundle maintain that the Bible study group participants were forced to watch extremely violent pornography, which included adults performing sexual acts on infants and young children, as well as physically abusing them in other ways.

According to the church, this takeover by a hacker took place twice during the same meeting. The meeting was then abruptly ended, reports the church.

The church explains that being forced to watch this left its Bible study group participants deeply traumatized.

After this instance, Cundle reportedly reached out to Zoom to relay the incident and demand that the company “rectify the situation” and improve security for future video conferences to prevent this from occurring in the future.

However, Cundle allegedly received no response from Zoom.

The Zoom security issues class action lawsuit stresses that this is not the only time this has happened.

Allegedly, many other Zoom users have experienced similar things, hacking tactics which have been referred to as “Zoombombing.”

This has reportedly left many people traumatized, because these events often involve the use of disturbing, violent or pornographic images.

The Saint Paulus Zoom security issues class action lawsuit says that Zoom could have and should have taken further steps to protect both the security and emotional wellbeing of those who participate in a Zoom meeting online, but failed to do so.

Allegedly, the hackers who broke into the Saint Paulus Bible study were repeat offenders, but Zoom failed to adequately prevent them from continuing to “Zoom bomb” meetings.

Specifically, the church argues that Zoom’s videoconferences are not end-to-end encrypted, which gives hackers and Zoom itself the ability to spy on users.

The church argues that although Zoom promises to provide a safe and secure environment for a Zoom meeting online, they do not provide adequate security to avoid breach and infiltration.

Additionally, the church also argues that Zoom violates users privacy in a range of ways, including failing to safeguard users’ confidential information and by unlawfully sharing personal information with third-parties.

To support the claim that these Zoom breaches are a persistent problem, the church points to multiple news reports that shed light on the issue — some published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and other publications.

The church seeks damages on behalf of itself and all Zoom users who allegedly had their privacy violated by Zoom’s lax security measures, and seeks for Zoom to improve its security.

Have you used Zoom during the pandemic? Did you experience security issues? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

The Saint Paulus Lutheran Church and Heddi N. Cundle are represented by Francis A. Bottini Jr., Albert Y. Chang, and Yury A. Kolesnikov of Bottini & Bottini Inc.; and Mark C. Molumphy, Tyson Redenbarger, and Anya N. Thepot of Cochett Pitre & McCarthy LLP.

The Zoom Security Issues Class Action Lawsuit is Saint Paulus Lutheran Church, et al. v. Zoom Video Communications Inc., Case No. 5:20-cv-03252, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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