https://stackdiary.com/zoom-terms-now-allow-training-ai-on-user-content-with-no-opt-out/ Skip to content Search for: [ ] Stack DiaryStack Diary Stack Diary For Developers, Designers, and Makers. Main Navigation * Home * About * Web + Development + Design + Tutorials + WordPress * Tech + Artificial Intelligence + Hosting + Linux Docs + Business * Contact Secondary Navigation * Development * Design * AI * Tech * Security * Business * Hosting * WordPress * Tutorials * Artificial Intelligence Zoom's Updated Terms of Service Permit Training AI on User Content Without Opt-Out Alex Ivanovs avatarAlex Ivanovs avatar Alex Ivanovs August 7, 2023 August 6, 2023 Updated | Reader Disclosure Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, then we may earn a commission. Zoom's Updated Terms of Service Permit Training AI on User Content Without Opt-OutZoom'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. In a detailed perusal of the newly updated terms, two sections - 10.2 and 10.4 - stand out for their broad-ranging implications on how Zoom is permitted to utilize user data. These sections establish Zoom's rights to compile and utilize "Service Generated Data," which is any telemetry data, product usage data, diagnostic data, and similar content or data that Zoom collects in connection with users' use of their services or software. Zoom's updated policy states that all rights to Service Generated Data are retained solely by Zoom. This extends to Zoom's rights to modify, distribute, process, share, maintain, and store such data "for any purpose, to the extent and in the manner permitted under applicable law." What raises alarm is the explicit mention of the company's right to use this data for machine learning and artificial intelligence, including training and tuning of algorithms and models. This effectively allows Zoom to train its AI on customer content without providing an opt-out option, a decision that is likely to spark significant debate about user privacy and consent. Additionally, under section 10.4 of the updated terms, Zoom has secured a "perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license" to redistribute, publish, access, use, store, transmit, review, disclose, preserve, extract, modify, reproduce, share, use, display, copy, distribute, translate, transcribe, create derivative works, and process Customer Content. Zoom justifies these actions as necessary for providing services to customers, supporting the services, and improving its services, software, or other products. However, the implications of such terms are far-reaching, particularly as they appear to permit Zoom to use customer data for any purpose relating to the uses or acts described in section 10.3. Privacy advocates and legal experts are expected to scrutinize these updated terms closely. Many argue that they push the boundaries of what is acceptable in terms of consent, data privacy, and individual rights. While Zoom's intentions may be focused on improving their platform and delivering better service, the breadth and depth of these changes may leave many users uncomfortable and seeking assurances about how their data is being used. Zoom has yet to comment (added below) on the updates and potential concerns raised by these changes. As this unfolds, the debate around privacy in the digital age and the responsibility of companies in respecting user privacy continues to intensify. Discuss on Hacker News --------------------------------------------------------------------- An update Biella Coleman picked this story up and tweeted it out, which got this trending and invoked a response from Zoom. Aparna Bawa, COO at Zoom, left a comment on Hacker News, To clarify, Zoom customers decide whether to enable generative AI features (recently launched on a free trial basis) and separately whether to share customer content with Zoom for product improvement purposes. Also, Zoom participants receive an in-meeting notice or a Chat Compose pop-up when these features are enabled through our UI, and they will definitely know their data may be used for product improvement purposes. I myself also got an email from a spokesperson, who said that, "Zoom customers decide whether to enable generative AI features, and separately whether to share customer content with Zoom for product improvement purposes.". While these are all lovely responses, and at least they're being involved in the discussion, they don't actually answer the 10.4 clause in the Terms of Service, which states, You agree to grant and hereby grant Zoom a perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license and all other rights required or necessary to redistribute, publish, import, access, use, store, transmit, review, disclose, preserve, extract, modify, reproduce, share, use, display, copy, distribute, translate, transcribe, create derivative works, and process Customer Content and to perform all acts with respect to the Customer Content, including AI and ML training and testing. Unless these are rectified and clarified, this means that Zoom can do exactly what they say they can do because you are agreeing to grant all the abovementioned permissions. I cannot stress enough that these aren't just "words at a wall" - in the 10.2 clause, you literally consent to Zoom using your data for AI/ML; you do not have a choice to opt-out because opting-out is not part of the terms. Zoom has published a blog post on the matter; you can see the tweet here. I'm linking to the tweet (and you can also read this Hacker News comment) because there should be discourse (unfortunately, for Zoom, it's not in their favor) around this rather than blank statements. Alex IvanovsAlex Ivanovs Written By Alex Ivanovs Alex is a full-stack developer with more than 15 years of experience. After many years of threading the self-taught path, he discovered a natural passion for writing. 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