Zoom and use of customer data to train AI models.

[Shilpa]

Zoom has updated terms of service in March 2023. They have two types of data: “service generated data,” such as what features customers use and what part of the world they are in, and “customer content,” which is the data created by users themselves, such as audio or chat transcripts.

The terms state that service-generated data can be used for “machine learning or artificial intelligence and it would allow the company to use this data for AI training without obtaining additional consent.

If a meeting host consent to it, Zoom can use "customer-content" like video and chat for AI training. Other participants would have to leave if they don’t want to consent. 

Any thoughts?

[Caute_cautim]

@Shilpa    I feel very uncomfortable indeed, without knowing exactly what, how, when, where, they are going to use the data collected, and whether they have a good governance model, which they uphold and practice.

I want to know exactly what they are going to use the collected data for, and personally, it would put me off using them as a conference collaboration tool.

I would also hope that governments around the world, who currently routinely use it, would also stop using it, when dealing with official conferences.

For other conference Voice over IP systems, do not leave residual information, such as presentations, which are are shared for organisational purposes, because in many cases this information is collected by many such service providers.  So make sure you delete it, if you do not want it shared or used by the provider.

Regards

Caute_Cautim

[Caute_cautim]

Hi All

An interesting update and something to be very aware of:

https://themarkup.org/hello-world/2023/08/12/this-is-what-happens-when-people-start-actually-reading...

Regards

Caute_Cautim

[Caute_cautim]

Hi All

Zoom is a Chinese based company - here is some history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxYi26_qTOM

So why do governments use Zoom?

Regards

Caute_Cautim

[Shilpa]

@Caute_cautim Does Microsoft collect content data when we have Teams meetings? Is Signal the only option left?

[Caute_cautim]

@Shilpa   Yes, it does, in several ways.  Your group administrator can access meetings

"Microsoft Teams, as a cloud-based service, processes various types of personal data as part of delivering the service. This personal data includes: Content Your meetings and conversations chats, voicemail, shared files, recordings and transcriptions. Profile Data Data that is shared within your company about you."  It is part of the service inbuilt.

Can they be monitored - Yes:  Yes, Teams video calls can be monitored if they are made as meetings. To avoid this, you can create the meeting as a call and then share your screen or camera.

Is it private?  It is one of the most secure business communication and collaboration apps as it offers advanced security and compliance capabilities by default. MS Teams is built in accordance with Microsoft Trustworthy Computing Security Development Lifecycle (SDL), which is a key component of the Trustworthy Computing Initiative.

Yes, your group administrator would have access and as seen recently, if Microsoft are not using appropriate security measures to protect the encryption keys, then there are issues too.  So a Hardware Security Module (HSM) is essential for protecting encryption keys, within their Cloud provider environments.  This could be stated for all Cloud providers though. 

https://www.zdnet.com/article/i-looked-at-all-the-ways-microsoft-teams-tracks-users-and-my-head-is-s...

An interesting perspective to support organisational management, and ensure privacy, but treat it as a feature and a benefit too.

Something to consider when you are next on a Microsoft Teams call.

Regards

[phr]

This is quite interesting and disconcerting since in the vast majority, for example in LATAM countries, this is the predefined tool for both work and study meetings.

Do you know if Google Meet, MS Teams or Cisco Webex do similar actions?

PHR

[Caute_cautim]

@phr   Welcome on board, I will dive into the respective details on Google Meet and Cisco Webex and see what I manage to bring up in that hunt.   Unless less others have details to add?

A good subject to review.

Regards

Caute_Cautim

[Caute_cautim]

HI All

Google Meet:  https://support.google.com/meet/answer/10382037?hl=en

https://transparencyreport.google.com/

Where does Google hold your data?

Google’s infrastructure is strategically distributed across multiple data centers around the globe. For clarity, some Google data storage facilities are located in countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Also, Google Cloud 24/7 support implementation ensures agile and effective delivery of the services around the globe, and some of the support centers are outside the EEA. We are not able to provide you the exact data center that your data is stored due to the above reasons.

Per your domain’s Customer Agreement, Google Cloud administrators for a domain can access all user accounts and the associated data, as described in our Privacy Policy.

As a domain administrator, you have control of all usernames and passwords within your domain. You can access your users' accounts in conformity with the Customer Agreement. However, we do require that you have a policy about such actions that is published to your users.

We will notify the registered secondary email address of any spam violations.

https://support.google.com/googlecloud/answer/6056650?sjid=3232965281433916449-AP#zippy=%2Cwho-owns-...

Regards

Caute_Cautim

[Caute_cautim]

Hi All

Cisco Webex :

Cisco Webex Calling Residency -

Calling data is stored in the data center closest to a customer's principal place of business, as provided to Cisco by the Partner during the ordering process. Data residency is available in key markets in North America, Europe, and Asia and continue to expand to more regions.   Which in the case of Australia & New Zealand is Singapore.  

The Terms of Use clearly state that “All User Content is considered non-confidential and public.” The Privacy Data Sheet discloses that Webex collects users' personal information including names, email addresses, browsers, phone numbers, and mail addresses.

How long are messages stored?

The maximum values are 3600 days, 120 months, or 10 years. The values control how long Webex keeps user-generated messages, files, and whiteboards. You can set different or the same values for 1-1 and group chats, respectively. We are deprecating the Indefinitely option.

Noting that user content is considered non-confidential and public, which should give you a rational reasonable for deleting presentations and any other information, you do not want shared with others etc.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/legal/privacy-full.html

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/conferencing/webex-control-hub/datasheet-c78-74077...

I would personally say, that Cisco Webex is more secure, probably more expensive, but one needs to check your region as to where the data collected is stored and check out the countries privacy regulations and related policies directly.

Hope this helps?

Regards

Caute_Cautim