Zoom to pay $85M for lying about encryption and sending data to Facebook and Google:The proposed settlement would generally give Zoom users $15 or $25 each and was filed Saturday at US District Court for the Northern District of California. [...]
The class lawyers would get attorneys' fees of up to 25 percent of the $85 million and up to $200,000 for reimbursement of expenses. [...]
With the pandemic boosting its videoconferencing business, Zoom more than quadrupled its annual revenue from $622.7 million to $2.7 billion in the 12 months ending January 31, 2021. Zoom also reported $672 million in net income for the 12-month period, up from $25.3 million the previous year. Zoom is on pace for even better results this year, having reported Q1 (February-April) revenue of $956.2 million and net income of $227.5 million.
So the entire payout for this settlement is 4% of the amount by which their revenue increased in 2020.
A fine is a price.
Zoom users relied on the company's promises that "Zoom does not sell users' data" and that "Zoom takes privacy seriously and adequately protects users' personal information," the lawsuit said. [...]
The settlement "requires Zoom to not reintegrate the Facebook SDK for iOS into Zoom meetings for a year" and to ask Facebook to "delete any US user data obtained from the SDK."
"Ask". Uh huh.
Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.
Great, and those of us who paid for HIPAA-compliant accounts get what again?
Get used to usin' Jitsi, I guess.
NOPE. No BAAs. At least Zoom has 100% of the liability here per their BAA.
Article actually says we'll get 15% of what we paid for service or $25, whichever is greater, but of course then that "could be reduced" depending on size of the claim pool (roughly... 99% of all people in the US, or something like that?). My big award would be about $45, assuming it's not "reduced."
What I'm really looking forward to is the hours and hours of work it's going to take to distribute any hypothetical refunds to the people who were under my Zoom "host" account for much or all of 2020, when Zoom would only give a BAA to groups of 10 users or more, so I took on hosting for dozens of technophobic, anxiety-driven Bay Area therapists, whom I promptly had to turn around and give partial refunds to when Zoom changed this policy in early 2021 and insisted that host accounts that weren't actual employer/employee setups disaggregate into individual users. So then I had to walk people through THAT.
My mythological $45 is going to pay me about 4 cents a minute when I get done dealing with my inbox now, again in a year or two when the settlement is actually disbursed, and then my Paypal account. And bookkeeping. And taxes. JFC.
4 cents a minute4 cents an hourWhy. Are. The thumbs. On the bottom?
Sit on your hands, where are the thumbs?
Because Goatse.
Need you to video your reaction when you find out why.
I’m so dumb.
From the "Just another day in paradise" dep't:
So the entire payout for this settlement is 4% of the amount by which their revenue increased in 2020.
Yep, pretty typical for how "fines" work in corporate America. Pocket change. A slap on the wrist and a promise to "never ever be naughty again" with their fingers crossed behind their backs and a big fat bribe to somebody's political campaign.