Chennai: Zoom today said it takes user privacy, security, and trust extremely seriously. “We have been focused on enhancing our commitment to security and privacy under our 90-day plan announced 1 April, and have made significant progress,” it said in a statement.
“Zoom is an American company listed on Nasdaq and for close to a decade we have been helping some of the world’s largest financial services companies, leading telecommunications providers, government agencies, universities and others stay connected in a safe and secure manner. Many of these entities have done exhaustive security reviews of our user, network and data center layers and confidently selected Zoom for complete deployment, and we actively engage with them to provide them with any information they need to make informed decisions,” it said.
It is to be noted that the Supreme Court Friday sought response from the Centre on a plea which has sought a ban on the use of video communications app ‘Zoom’ for official as well as personal purposes until an appropriate legislation is put in place.
A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde issued notice to the Centre on the plea which has raised privacy concern and claimed that continued use of Zoom app is “making the users vulnerable and prone to cyber threats”.
The matter came up for hearing through video-conferencing before the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, which asked the Centre to file its reply within four weeks on the plea which has arrayed US-based Zoom Video Communications as one of the respondents in the case.
The plea, filed by Delhi resident Harsh Chugh, has also sought a direction to the Centre to carry out an exhaustive technical study into the security and privacy risks of using Zoom application.
The plea, filed through advocate Wajeeh Shafiq, has alleged that continued usage of this app might put the national security at stake and might also give a boom to number of cyber-threats and cyber crimes in India.
“The global COVID-19 pandemic has drastically reshaped the way in which consumers, businesses and schools communicate. Rather than lending a hand to people in need, Zoom violates the privacy of its millions of users by misusing and exploiting their personal information and falsely, deceptively and misleadingly advertising fictitious security benefits of the program,” the plea has said.