Zoom AI Training on User Content

Zoom's Updated Terms of Service Permit Training AI on User Content Without Opt-Out Well, well, well... It looks like Brave isn't the only company out there that is willing to bet all its chips on reusing other people's content for AI training. Zoom Video Communications, Inc. recently updated its Terms of Service to encompass what some critics are calling a significant invasion of user privacy. An update. Hey everyone - Zoom users and curious readers alike. This update was written on 8/12/2023 (August 12th) to recap the timeline of events and to make a final statement on the situation regarding this article. For starters, let's look at the entire timeline: August 6th: This article is published. August 7th: A few hours after this article goes live, Gabriella "Bella" Coleman (who happens to have enormous editorial reach) tweets the article out and gets everyone from Zoom users to privacy experts to journalists involved in the discussion. Editorials such as The Verge, NBC News, Mashable and countless others pick this story up and get involved. August 7th: Zoom is now in full damage control mode (and I must give them credit for being proactive and involved, believe it or not - cheap are brands who don't do this at all) - they publish a blog post that rectifies the 10.4 clause. The updated terms were immediately shot down as they still didn't address the specific wording of the terms. August 8th: The CEO of Zoom, Eric Yuan, makes a LinkedIn post attributing the updated terms as a "process failure" and something that Zoom "will fix immediately". August 11th: Zoom updates its terms for the second time, with a clause that now says, "Zoom does not use any of your audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments or other communications-like Customer Content (such as poll results, whiteboard and reactions) to train Zoom's third-party artificial intelligence models." Now you might say that "such an" and that "this is a victory", but for what it's worth, something like this should have never happened in the first place. It's a stark reminder for any brand or organization out there that plans on advancing its product with AI through the use of its own customer content. My own take on the situation is this: if you're going to use my data/content to train an AI model, then at the very least tell me (the customer) and let me opt-out if I so choose. There is absolutely no reason for you not to do this, unless you want to find out the hard way how people really feel about having their privacy invaded. Please note that if you continue to read the whole article below - you are reading a version of the article that was published on August 6th with an update added on August 8th. This statement you're reading right now is the most up-to-date clarification of the situation as it unfolded.

A screenshot of an article about Zoom’s updated Terms of Service, which appeared to allow the company to use customer content for AI training without an opt-out. The long update recounts public backlash, Zoom’s damage control, and later revisions to the terms, making the image a reaction to invasive data practices and corporate privacy controversies. EN: A screenshot of an article about Zoom’s updated Terms of Service, which appeared to allow the company to use customer content for AI training without an opt-out. The long update recounts public backlash, Zoom’s damage control, and later revisions to the terms, making the image a reaction to invasive data practices and corporate privacy controversies.

• @gentoomemes / 5784 2023-08-14