Difference between revisions of "Zoom"

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	==Privacy Policy==		==Privacy Policy==
		+	According to its official privacy statement, Zoom is committed to protecting the privacy of its users. Zoom serves as a data controller as the party that determines what data to collect and why. The data that Zoom collects depends on user interaction. Zoom also obtains data from third parties. Zoom provides a table on data processing, including information about types of personal data collected, how they get the information, what they do with it, and legal basis. For example, users provide Zoom with their date of birth, full name, and email address when they register. This information is used for several purposes, to enroll users in services and display user information in meetings. Full information is available on the official Zoom website.<ref>https://zoom.us/privacy?zcid=1231#_Toc44414835</ref>
		+	When a user logs into a Zoom account, Zoom will ask to accept its use of cookies. Zoom utilizes cookies to enhance functionality of its site. Zoom also uses advertising cookies which are used by advertising companies to serve ads related to specific user interests.<ref>https://ethics.berkeley.edu/privacy-considerations-when-using-zoom</ref>
	==Ethical Implications==		==Ethical Implications==

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Revision as of 20:55, 17 March 2021

Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, Inc.) is a telecommunications company that offers its users the ability to meet for free (with optional subscription) online through their video conferencing platform. With the free version of Zoom, hosts can hold meetings up to 40 minutes long with up to 100 participants. And, if users are interested in holding longer meetings with more participants, they can purchase a subscription for about $15-20 a month.^[1] When a host starts a meeting, they are able to send an online invitation with a link to the meeting to whoever they would like to attend.

Zoom Features

Chat

Zoom allows users to send messages throughout the duration of the meeting. Users can send messages to individual participants or to everyone in the meeting.

Screen Share

Participants in the meeting have the opportunity to share their screen. This means that everyone else in the meeting can see what is on the person’s screen and follow along with whatever it is the person is doing/showing in real time. Participants, if granted permission, also have the ability to take control of the person who is sharing’s computer controls. This means they can control their mouse and keyboard, allowing them to directly interact with the person’s screen remotely from their own machine.

Record

Zoom meetings can be recorded and saved for viewing at a later time. Recordings can be started and stopped at any point and all participants have to agree to be recorded (if they don’t, they have the option to leave the meeting).

Polling

Hosts can launch single choice or multiple choice polls for their participants during meetings. Hosts can see the results and display them to the rest of the attendees during the meeting in addition to obtaining a report of the responses at the end of the meeting.

Reactions

Meeting participants have the option to display different reactions during the course of a meeting by clicking different emojis, including clapping, thumbs up, heart, laughing face, open mouth face and confetti. Participants can also alert the host to speed up or slow down or say “yes” or “no” to the host by hitting each button respectively. And, finally, participants can notify others that they may wish to speak by clicking the “raise hand” button.

Breakout Rooms

The host of the meeting can split the participants into breakout rooms. Each breakout room is essentially its own Zoom meeting and the host can close the breakout rooms and bring everyone back to the main call whenever. Participants can decide when they would like to leave the breakout room to return to the main call as well. When making the breakout rooms, the host can randomize the participants or put specific people in specific rooms. In addition, the host has the opportunity to give participants the chance to choose their own rooms by manually placing themselves into a room.

Waiting Room

Before the start of a meeting, a virtual “waiting room” is enabled for participants. In this room, participants can’t see other participants and are waiting to be admitted to the main room where the meeting actually takes place. The host has the ability to admit people into the main room one by one or all at once whenever they wish.

History of Zoom

Zoom was founded by Eric Yuan in 2011 and launched in January of 2013. By May of 2013, it had one million participants.^[2] Since then, the platform has continuously grown, expanding its features and offerings to offer greater meeting capacity and duration. In January 2017, Zoom had officially become a Unicorn company (meaning that it had surpassed a valuation of $1 billion dollars).^[3] In March 2019, Zoom went public being priced at $36 per share and the stock price increased over 72% on the first day of trading.^[4]

Since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, Zoom’s popularity has only continued to rise. With people being encouraged to follow social distancing guidelines and stay at home as much as possible, people needed to find a replacement for in person gatherings: that’s where Zoom came in. Before the start of the pandemic at the end of 2019, only about 10 million people were attending Zoom meetings. By April of 2020, that number had exploded to 300 million.^[5]

Privacy Policy

According to its official privacy statement, Zoom is committed to protecting the privacy of its users. Zoom serves as a data controller as the party that determines what data to collect and why. The data that Zoom collects depends on user interaction. Zoom also obtains data from third parties. Zoom provides a table on data processing, including information about types of personal data collected, how they get the information, what they do with it, and legal basis. For example, users provide Zoom with their date of birth, full name, and email address when they register. This information is used for several purposes, to enroll users in services and display user information in meetings. Full information is available on the official Zoom website.^[6]

When a user logs into a Zoom account, Zoom will ask to accept its use of cookies. Zoom utilizes cookies to enhance functionality of its site. Zoom also uses advertising cookies which are used by advertising companies to serve ads related to specific user interests.^[7]

Ethical Implications

Furthering the Digital Divide in Education

The term “digital divide” stems from the inequitable access or knowledge that different groups of people have to/about technology and the Internet.^[8] When it comes to virtual education, especially during a pandemic, students have no choice but to attend classes online, and these classes are highly dependent on Internet connection.^[9] Without access to a good internet connection, students won’t be able to log onto class and participate in learning. This gives an advantage to the students who have reliable, high-speed Internet as they will have better access to class materials and teachers. In addition, education through Zoom is reliant on physical technology, such as laptops and tablets itself. Many families have to share devices, making it difficult for students to log onto class or submit work on time. According to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, kids living in high-income households are twice as likely to have computer access than children living in low-income households.^[10] It is students living in low-income households that are at a disadvantage due to lack of devices and Internet access.

Security & Privacy

With the rise of Zoom has also come the rise of “Zoom-bombing.” Zoom-bombing is when uninvited people join Zoom meetings for the sole purpose to disrupt and harass participants.^[11] One example is when a virtual Holocaust memorial event was “bombed” by people showing photos of Adolf Hitler and yelling anti-Semetic phrases.^[12] This has led to the discussion of privacy and security concerns with Zoom. With people using Zoom for everything from company meetings, to class, to family reunions, all types of personal and confidential information is being shared over Zoom. So, if people are able to enter any call they want, such as in a Zoom-Bombing attack, these people will have access to the information that is being shared on the call.

References

1. ↑ Chawla, Ajay, Coronavirus (COVID-19) – ‘Zoom’ Application Boon or Bane (May 20, 2020).
2. ↑ Chawla, Ajay, Coronavirus (COVID-19) – ‘Zoom’ Application Boon or Bane (May 20, 2020).
3. ↑ Chawla, Ajay, Coronavirus (COVID-19) – ‘Zoom’ Application Boon or Bane (May 20, 2020).
4. ↑ Chawla, Ajay, Coronavirus (COVID-19) – ‘Zoom’ Application Boon or Bane (May 20, 2020).
5. ↑ Wiederhold, Brenda K. “Connecting Through Technology During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: Avoiding ‘Zoom Fatigue.’” Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, vol. 23, no. 7, 2020, pp. 437–438., doi:10.1089/cyber.2020.29188.bkw.
6. ↑ https://zoom.us/privacy?zcid=1231#_Toc44414835
7. ↑ https://ethics.berkeley.edu/privacy-considerations-when-using-zoom
8. ↑ Gorski, Paul. “Education Equity and the Digital Divide.” Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, vol. 13, no. 1, Jan. 2005.
9. ↑ Oliveira Dias, Dr. Murillo, et al. “Will Virtual Replace Classroom Teaching? Lessons from Virtual Classes via Zoom in the Times of COVID-19.” Journal of Advances in Education and Philosophy, vol. 04, no. 05, 2020, pp. 208–213., doi:10.36348/jaep.2020.v04i05.004.
10. ↑ Gorski, Paul. “Education Equity and the Digital Divide.” Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, vol. 13, no. 1, Jan. 2005.
11. ↑ Ling, Chen, et al. “A First Look at Zoombombing.” ArXiv.org, 8 Sept. 2020, arxiv.org/abs/2009.03822.
12. ↑ Aiken, Adam. “Zooming in on Privacy Concerns: Video App Zoom Is Surging in Popularity. In Our Rush to Stay Connected, We Need to Make Security Checks and Not Reveal More than We Think.” Index on Censorship, vol. 49, no. 2, July 2020, pp. 24–27, doi:10.1177/0306422020935792.