Zoom's Updated Terms of Service Permit Training AI on User Content Without Opt-Out

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.”, including AI and Machine Learning.

riesendulli,

Host yourselves

jitsi.org

ForestOrca,
ForestOrca avatar

Yay Jitsi!!

socphoenix,

Do you know if they support disabling things like auto-equalization of audio or changing the bitrate? I use zoom for music lessons because they’re the only one I’ve ever found that will let me do that, which sucks because zoom really isn’t that great of an app

guyrocket,
guyrocket avatar

As a user, I liked webex more than any other video conferencing software. But IDK how much adjustment it allows.

socphoenix,

I looked at them too but couldn’t find an obvious way to get it from Cisco without buying a license big enough to share with everyone I know lol

guyrocket,
guyrocket avatar

My understanding is that my employer dropped webex because it was more expensive than others. I think we only use Teams now which works but not as well as webex.

socphoenix,

Yeah and that’s my problem I only need one 2 person conference a week and webex is like using a nuclear bomb to go fishing price wise

guyrocket,
guyrocket avatar

Just a thought: Explain your needs to Jitsi devs. Or other software linked here. Maybe they could cater to a niche market to get more market share. Or offer a free music lesson for their trouble.

Must be an email address on their site somewhere.

socphoenix,

That is a good idea I’ll hunt around for where to request it later today!

socphoenix, (edited )

Update: they have a very active github for the desktop app, and they had a fix almost immediately. There are webAPI calls that can be appended to the end of the meeting link before starting. If your link for example is “meet.jit.si/myLesson” you can append the following string: #config.disableAP=true&config.disableAEC=true&config.disableNS=true&config.disableAGC=true&config.disableHPF=true&config.stereo=true

making it meet.jit.si/myLesson#config.disableAP=true&co…`

and this will disable all the audio processing that could harm the meeting. You will probably want headphones though as it will cause a lot of echoes if it can hear anything from the meeting.

Figured I’d leave this here in case anyone else was looking for a similar solution.

EDIT: Lemmy keeps adding “amp;” after each & symbol. Those are incorrect but so far I’m failing to get the thing to stop doing it every time I hit post. Those should be removed for a working link. Try this link to see how it should look.

ForestOrca,
ForestOrca avatar

During the early part of 2020 I moved my classes onto Zoom. Because of this change, I'll be moving my video conferencing elsewhere. What's with companies destroying themselves while attempting to maximize profits. Just another reddifugee on kbin.social. SMH.

FOSS Zoom Alternatives -

https://itsfoss.com/open-source-video-conferencing-tools/

https://www.makeuseof.com/open-source-video-conferencing-software/

https://fosspost.org/zoom-alternatives/

AdalwinAmillion,

The term “enshittification” comes to mind.

girlfreddy,
@girlfreddy@lemmy.world avatar

Cory Doctorow is a smart man and I’m glad he’s around to educate us.

Rai,

The term “enshittification” is as common on Lemmy as “play stupid games…” is on Reddit.

It’s a much less stupid word/phrase, though, so that’s fine with me.

kobra,

thanks for sharing, looks like some good alternatives here.

RagnarokOnline,

The real trouble here is got vague the term “user generated content” is.

Does that include recordings of meetings? Does that include files or messages over chat during calls? Does it include names of those attending calls?

With it being so vague, you have to assume the worst possible case, which sucks for anyone who uses Zoom.

Jarmer,

yeah I think it means … ALL OF IT.

also double sucks because a lot of people have no choice but to use zoom. jobs require it.

chilicheeselies,

They wont for long if their legal departments see that. We already arent allowed to record meetings with zoom where i work, and are going to teams.

Its the people who lose in this one

gelberhut,

If you have to use it for work, it is not your issue, but your employer’s.

Still, I will be surprised if zoom will apply this rule to corporate customers.

NerfHerder,

Yeah, but if you’re interviewing for a job, it IS your problem, no?

gelberhut,

Good point: n this case it is 50/50, I would say. Interview is unlikely, your private discussion. Not sure to what degree interview discussion “belongs” to the interviewing company.

Moreover, if you think that company uses wrong tools, you can simply reject interview.

PersnickityPenguin,

But doesn’t this term of use mean that you don’t own anything, zoom owns everything?

gelberhut,

I think zoom do not want to own everything, it simply wants to be able to use this data to improve their services and stay relevant. Ms teams had a lot of ml bases features already.

But how is this related to the contents of my comment?

Rai,

Unrelated, you’re my favourite game ever and I love you and miss you and I’d pay so much for a pre-re server without a cash shop at maybe 2-5k total players.

RagnarokOnline,

I love you too and each winter I make a habit of hopping on a p-server and enveloping myself in nostalgia. I’m still waiting for an RO Lemmy community.

Let me know if you ever start playing again and I’ll be your buddy.

Rai,

Ugh I would love that soooo much. Did you play iRO back in the early ‘00s?

RagnarokOnline,

I did! I played it for 3-4 years around the mid-to-early 2000s.

So many great memories of LoE and going on MVP hunts with my monk. Not to mention the super fun holiday events. I still haven’t had a game hit the same spot as Ragnarok during Christmas 2004.

Rai,

SAAAAME

I started on Chaos, but my home was Sakray.

RagnarokOnline,

I WAS ON CHAOS TOOOOO! Were you in any particular alliance (or guild or clan or whatever they called it)? I was only in a small one called “Phenix Rising”. But it didn’t last super long.

Rai,

I was a guileless roamer Wizard on Chaos, because it felt soooo big! I didn’t get deep in guilds and community until moving over to little Sakray.

Sakray was my high school life. I made friends I still love today. It honestly probably saved my life. I wouldn’t be where I am, wouldn’t be married to the person I’m with, and might not even be alive if not for Ragnarok and the connections I made there.

I’m getting an RO tattoo shortly. I haven’t decided exactly what, yet. I don’t want a pantless fox girl on my flesh or I’d get Moonlight, easily. Possibly Eddga? Maybe Bapho, I love the way it is stylized. Maybe a Sting, because I spent more time SD’ing Stings than probably any other grinding spot in the game… aside from Elder Willows, I suppose.

Maybe just a tiny image of a card on the floor.

RagnarokOnline,

I loved hearing your story and getting to relive a bit of nostalgia with you, friend.

If it wasn’t for RO, I probably wouldn’t be in the job I am now (I actually bonded with a really really great coworker over RO memories) and I wouldn’t be as good of friends with my best friend without all of our late night Glast Heim grinding sessions.

I still listen to playlists of the background music to this day.

An RO tat sounds like a great tribute. If it were me, I think my tattoo would be Stormy, because that bastard killed me so much when I was leveling my monk in Toy Factory 2 ^.^

Rai,

BUT THE GIFT BOXES!

I want more of your RO stories! Were you on RODiary before it died? It stole me from LiveJournal. I hope your job is wonderful and fulfilling, and I hope your friendship lasts fo-evah.

ALSO I HAD A GH FRIEND HE IS THE BEST I LOVE YOU OB. I had a GC ‘sader with (Flex TimeTM) Angeling arMOR. He kept me alive and we talked all day because high school was shit.

I spent hours every day just chatting and gakking Reydrics with him. I love him so much. He was my best friend, beyond my best irl fiends. We finally got an Abyknight card and split the profits.

SoundTEMP is fucking outstanding, I love them. Do you have favorites? Easily mine are Desert and Dancing Christmas 13 etc.

RagnarokOnline,

So many bangers! My personal favorites are Peaceful Forest (because hunting so many Elder Willows) and One Step Closer, but I love the holiday songs too.

I remember there was a short while where you could trade cyfar for OBBs (it was like 50:1, I think) in Comodo, so I spent WEEKS of time in Orc Dungeon farming cyfar just so I could turn around and sell the OBBs for a profit (and crack a couple open myself, of course). I never did find anything of value from OBBs other than a Santa Poring card that fetched a small fortune on the market. I always wanted slotted sunnies or elf ears, though. Angeling armor was SO OP! That’s a good flex ;p

High school was the time I was in RO too and I remember that no matter how bad a day I was having, I would tell myself “At least you have RO waiting for you when you get home”.

Rai, (edited )

Peaceful Forest is PERFECT. This whole soundtrack tickles my nostalgia glands harder than any other music even could. One Step Closer is such a hopeful, “I’m setting out on my journey and I’m going to be the greatest!” song. Ughhhh welp I’m know what I’m listening to all day.

I don’t remember Cyfar for OBBs! I would have loved that—I loved OBBs, despite getting nothing great from them. I also mainly sold them. I hunted in Mids (wait, Sphinx?), and I remember one time I got a 9999 heal and buffs out of nowhere. Suddenly a GM messaged me and asks how I’m doing. I tell them I’m doing great, two OBBs already! They tell me they’re hunting bots, and wish me luck. Rebuff, and vanish. Crazy that they used to manually hunt for bots with regular chars!

Never got slotted sunnies myself, either :c I was lucky enough to be able to do the ice pick quest, and that died with my account. I don’t recall ever having elf ears, but I remember they sold for a cool 10m or so, which was a ton at the time!

Quick edit: Purity of your Smile is maybe one of the best. The… koto? Shimasen? With reverb gets me so in the happy zone.

RagnarokOnline,

Yes! I was going to say the Theme of Payon is one of my favs because if the Shamisen!

That story about the GM is so cool. I don’t think I ever interacted with one outside of when they’d occasionally summon MVPs in the south Prontera entrance and kill all the folks just hanging out down there. Gaming was so fun Back in the day.

Rai, I can’t believe that this game is still bringing people together even ~20 years later!

Rai,

It WAS so fun! I wish we played on the same server. I’m waiting for the day I meet someone randomly who was in a guild I was in. I did chaos only for a few months, then after hearing about 2x rates and a very small community on Sakray, I fell in love. I believe my first big guild, Noblesse Oblige, moved to Chaos when Sakray was burned to Iris.

I so miss sitting outside south Prontera! I loved that it was a hat-themed chat room game with grinding. It’s perfect. I went on to TF2 after RO, which makes sense, because more hats.

ily and I hope your life is amazing now.

Also I’ll fuck with any Shamisen song. Payon was amazing. old person moment I MISS OLD PAYON, it was MORE INTIMATE

RagnarokOnline,

OLD PAYON IS BEST PAYON

RagnarokOnline,

I know it’s weird to talk to strangers online, but do you have a discord?

I can share my ID if you do and we can connect. (I just don’t wanna leave it up so every lemmy homie can try to get in my DMs)

Rai,

Absolutely. When I’m back with my beautiful computer I’ll ship you my name. Or figure out how to PM you. I’m only on when someone tells me to hop on, but I’f you message me here, I’d love to hop on and chat!

RagnarokOnline,

deleted_by_author

  • Loading...
  • Rai,

    Oh god I’m sorry I’ve been busy! I took a screeny you can delete!

    RagnarokOnline,

    Wow, it’s weird but i think my comment got removed by a mod or something. I don’t see it here anymore either.

    And no worries about connecting. If it works out, it’s cool, if not it’s cool too. I’d just hate for this Lemmy account to die and then I potentially lose touch with someone cool like yourself 👍

    I’ll keep an eye out for your friend request on Discord.

    Rai,

    Strange! I’d check the thread to see if your comment is visible to me, but Memmy is crashing every time I view that thread. :c

    I’ll prolly be able to hop on later today? At the latest, this weekend!

    RagnarokOnline,

    Sounds good! Again, no pressure at all :)

    Ya know, I wonder what someone else is going to think if they eventually stumble across this thread. “Why are these two people flipping out about a 20 year old game when they should be talking about Zoom’s new privacy policy?!” xD

    Rai,

    It really is insane what RO can do to people. I’ve done every drug under the sun (barring opiates) and none of them give me the feeling I get when I think about coming home from school, booting up the family… eMachine, opening RO, and hearing those magnificent strings.

    No other game has come anywhere close. I’ve been chasing that high in video games ever since. Most everyone I’ve ever talked to about it, who played during their formative years, feels the same way. It was really something special.

    …uhhh also Zoom… it’s a… it’s a program! They uhhh… I can confirm they pay their programmers quite well. Their programmers also get a hefty chunk of money every month (I think 500-1kUSD?) for anything fitness-related, which is cool. You can just use it to make a home gum. And unlimited PTO, but we all know that doesn’t mean unlimited lawl. Fuck returning to office, tho. I’m way more productive at home. Imagine driving 40 miles to work in California. That’s like three hours.

    Zeth0s, (edited )

    They can’t be that stupid. Many companies that use zoom do it to discuss with clients, in conversations that are expected to be private and confidential. Training an ai might mean leaking some of this content, unless it’s an AI used exclusive internally at zoom. They better not use recording of meetings, unless they are ready to pay lawyers for years

    itsgroundhogdayagain,

    I’m sure companies will be interested in hearing this, especially those with regulatory requirements.

    PeachMan,

    Yeah WTF? Companies that have medical data, other PII… they’re going to have to cancel their Zoom contracts right? I guess that’s up to their lawyers to interpret/decide.

    gravitas_deficiency,

    As someone who works at a company with relevant regulatory obligations, I plan on forwarding this article to our infosec team tomorrow.

    nyakojiru,
    @nyakojiru@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

    Holly shit and people and companies even pay for this pos?

    sverit,

    Does anyone know if that’s ok with the DGPR in Europe?

    echodot,

    *GDPR

    And, no, it’s not okay.

    HiddenLayer5, (edited )

    Remember: the corporate meetings and university lectures are the tip of the iceberg of the kind of data Zoom has on people.

    Zoom is used by teenage couples to call each other and hang out, which might turn into discussing sexual themes as teenagers dating often do.

    Zoom is used by general-care doctors when their patients describe the rash on their anus.

    Zoom is used by psychiatrists and therapists talking to their patients during some of the most vulnerable and precarious times of their lives.

    Zoom is used by lawyers talking to their clients in all kind of cases, criminal, civil, divorce/family, inheritance, etc.

    Zoom was used by actual fucking courts to hold actual fucking criminal trials. Like bruh the fucking US judiciary department couldn’t have self-hosted one of the many open source and E2EE solutions?

    The fact that they can do this with no oversight or regulatory bodies intervening is utterly ridiculous. Zoom has probably some of the most sensitive data of people’s lives. It is not a social media platform where people know that they shouldn’t put too sensitive information on, it was literally intended and marketed for people to use for sensitive communications. They shouldn’t even be keeping any amount of data after the call ends, IMO, but using it to train an AI (to presumably sell later) is utterly morally bankrupt, and so are the regulatory agencies and lawmakers who could have intervened. Fuck you Zoom, fuck you FCC/FTC/whoever handles data privacy in the US. You want to ban TikTok because of its “national security implications” but don’t bat an eye when it’s a US company doing something far worse huh? Not implying I like TikTok, but TikTok doesn’t have access to live court trials or doctor-patient discussions.

    Yes, we shouldn’t have used Zoom in the first place. But that ship has sailed and most people were forced to use it against their will if their company/university/doctor/lawyer/judge decides to use it, and/or they did not realize the terrible data security/privacy implications of using it. It’s entirely unhelpful to victim blame and go “well you shouldn’t have used Zoom then! Sucks for you” as I see so many people in the FLOSS/privacy community doing. Additionally, that also does not address the actual societal/legislative issues of them being allowed to keep that information and use it for profit.

    TWeaK,

    Zoom was used by actual fucking courts to hold actual fucking criminal trials. Like bruh the fucking US judiciary department couldn’t have self-hosted one of the many open source and E2EE solutions?

    It should be said that many business customers do use a self-hosted version of Zoom. I couldn’t say for sure if every court did, but major government bodies definitely used something more than the free package, which come with different T&Cs.

    Additionally, that also does not address the actual societal/legislative issues of them being allowed to keep that information and use it for profit.

    This is the big issue in online user data. In no other instance in life can someone take something without offering anything in return. Yes, websites are usually free, but Microsoft collect your data from the software you already pay them for. Just like you can’t build and sell a car without paying for the nuts and bolts, there needs to be clear legal infrastructure to prevent data businesses from getting away with taking everyone’s data for free and using it to develop products for pure profit.

    yoz,

    Stop using zoom. Its that simple!

    CheshireSnake,
    @CheshireSnake@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    I should just tell our CEO then that I refuse to use Zoom and fail to show to any and all meetings as well as tasks which require Zoom? That’s it then. Privacy is saved.

    Schlemmy, (edited )

    Well, if you’re in the EU you could tell your DPO and they should take action to prevent your company from using Zoom from now on.

    CheshireSnake,
    @CheshireSnake@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    I’m in Asia. Idk how our company is going to handle this (or if they care) but we do have a meeting this week so I may mention it again (if I get a chance to).

    PersnickityPenguin,

    Tell your IT guys that zoom permanently records all meetings and they will use it for financial gain in the future, potentially including corporate blackmail. Ask the people in charge if price is worth continued business with using the software.

    CheshireSnake,
    @CheshireSnake@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I probably won’t add the blackmail stuff. I’m still thinking how to go about it, tbh. Last time I brought it up was when they were thinking of switching due to cost and I mentioned the privacy issues. I think Zoom recording meetings would at least give them pause (I hope), but I still need to make it as believable as possible and give an alternative that’s already widely used (for customers and clients).

    PersnickityPenguin,

    Sure.

    Interestingly, it is illegal for any party to record a phone call in my jurisdiction without notifying all the parties. Zoom would be in violation of this law.

    yoz,

    Prolly look for another 9-5 gig before you stop showing up in meetings .

    ipkpjersi, (edited )

    I’ve always liked Google Meet better anyway. Hopefully Google don’t decide to scrap it too, because while it seems like it is going to stick around, they do really like scrapping projects…

    edit: Nevermind, I forgot people aren’t allowed to have preferences. I understand Google is evil, and their web extensions is literally going to kill the Internet, but you can’t tell me that millions of people aren’t using Gmail.

    HellAwaits,

    You do realize Google is far worse when it comes to data privacy, right?

    TechnoBabble,

    But Google takes their security super seriously, and the only person they’re sharing our data with is the government.

    That’s not a good thing, but if you need a chat app that pretty much everyone already has installed, for non-sensitive conversations, you could do much worse than Google Meet.

    yoz,

    Lol who uses google meet now? Try jitsi meet

    cyclohexane,

    It’s foss?

    yoz,

    Yeap

    cyclohexane,

    It’s that simple!

    This kind of optimistic attitude ignores the reality that such actions are only effective when organized in mass. If I stop using zoom, it’s pointless. It’s only effective in the context of organizing with others.

    The rich might want us to think that we are empowered to inflict change by merely making personal choices (which in reality are completely futile). In reality, our power shows when we’re united.

    CheshireSnake,
    @CheshireSnake@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    Not to mention saying “just stop using Zoom” is pretty dumb if your company insists on using it. I’ve lobbied for other apps to be used with my company but they didn’t budge mainly because we’ll have to convince ALL our customers and clients to use whatever service we use as well.

    Singar,

    I never started using zoom because of the original privacy concerns. It would have been great if people would have listened, but the truth is that most humans are just not that smart.

    I don’t even bother anymore. I just try to live my life in a way that corporations profit as little off of me as possible.

    yoz,

    Most People are lazy in general and doesn’t mind getting exploited as long as they can’t see or feel it. Times have changed and you’ll have to start acting as an individual. Take a stand. For example- My friends used WhatsApp and I moved to signal, only few moved to signal and eventually others started to move. So someone has to take action for the change and the change starts with you.

    TheProtagonist,

    It’s not that easy, because you are dependent on the person / organization setting up the conference. Privately I would never use it, but I often follow webinars and information sessions hosted by an multinational organization, and these are always held via Zoom. So it would be a “take it or leave it” approach. I would not even know to whom to refer to ask for an alternative option.

    PersnickityPenguin,

    I havent used zoom in like two years. Every meeting I’ve attended has been either MS Teams or Google Meet.

    echodot,

    Good for you?

    Weirdfish,

    Went to Infocomm this year, the audio / video trade show, to get the lay of the land on next generation conference systems.

    The two main elements at almost every booth were zoom and teams. Those two platforms have completely replaced IP based conferencing, and when the tide turns like this, no matter how bad the idea, we’re stuck with it for five to ten years.

    On both the hardware and software level, there just isn’t an alternative for corporate scale conferencing.

    I may be able to make the argument against zoom for privacy reasons, but I suspect teams isn’t going to be any better.

    bcngooner,

    Have you tried Cisco Webex?

    Weirdfish,

    It’s not so much a function of try, and yes, I’ve used it. It’s the fact that during lock down the whole company used Zoom and Teams, and changing systems now would take an act of God far above my paygrade.

    Historically, Tandberg, later acquired by Cisco, was hands down the best video conference codec. I have no doubt their new line is just as good.

    I can try forwarding this info to network security and see what they think.

    pensivepangolin,

    Considering courts have been using Zoom since COVID…I am dying to see what happens. Will Zoom clarify that it doesn’t collect/utilize meeting recordings to train AI? Is it going to exactly that and force anyone conducting sensitive business to find a new platform?

    This feels like a remarkably bad move, both for privacy and for Xoom’s own business concerns, unless I’m missing something.

    ChickenLadyLovesLife,

    Xoom

    Ha ha not yet!

    HiddenLayer5,

    xXxX00MxXx69

    Freeman,

    Wait till Elon Musk buys it…

    painfulasterisk,
    PersnickityPenguin,

    Wat

    droans,

    Won’t be an issue for courts. In fact, the original text prediction software came from the Enron Corpus - a trove of emails gathered by the FERC during their lawsuit against Enron.

    Now, companies will absolutely not be friendly about this. The number one reason most companies are hesitant to AI is because they don’t want to risk giving sensitive data to an outside company.

    mikarv,
    @mikarv@someone.elses.computer avatar

    @skilledtothegills would be forbidden for them to train on actual content from calls under EU law, as it would be in breach of the ePrivacy Directive (read alongside something called the European Electronic Communications Code, which gives similar obligations to 'over-the-top' providers as to classic telecoms). Not that US tech firms have a great history of adhering to EU law.

    jacktherippah,

    Man the modern internet is a privacy nightmare.

    Hamartiogonic,
    @Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

    That’s a very zoomy thing to do given what we’ve seen the company do so far. If they can figure out a new way profit from stabbing you in the back, they absolutely will go for it.

    Kaidao,

    This is terrible for privacy, but not surprising at all. For enterprise, the target market for Zoom, I imagine this doesn’t matter much.

    I don’t know anyone that uses Zoom for personal use. And if you do, why?

    chilicheeselies,

    It matters more. Nobody wants trade secrets being used to train some ai.

    scytale,

    I’d wager enterprise customers wouldn’t want this either, and I won’t be surprised if they demand to explicitly remove that clause on their contracts. Imagine all the highly confidential info and trade secrets being exchanged on company zoom meetings that can be harvested for AI use.

    inconel,

    I used zoom for some hobby online meetups. The majority used zoom. I’m assuming that it’s organizer’s choice, which they’re familiar at work. I’d love to spread a word for FOSS alternatives, but sadly I’m not the person organizes events.

    The thing is for most people zoom is equivalent of video conference. Zoom has soared its publicity in WFH era, and Zoom decides to (like every corporation does) utilize it, milking every possible profit from it.

    Potatos_are_not_friends,

    Last year, my whole company switched to jitsi.

    Solves 90% of our use cases and open-sourced enough to expand on it.

    Num10ck,

    do you host it in house? what compression does it use?

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