Zoom has pledged to offer European businesses the option of keeping all their data in the EEA (European Economic Area) by the end of the year.
In May 2021, the Dutch government and regulatory body, SURF, investigated Zoom's privacy approach and found nine high privacy risks for individuals. As an organisation representing more than 100 educational and research institutions in the Netherlands, SURF could not recommend Zoom to its members.
Part of the difficulty for Zoom is the Dutch government requires privacy by design, but it doesn't give a detailed explanation of how to achieve this. Fortunately, SURF agreed to help iron out the problems in its privacy policy to bring it in line with its high standards.
Jet de Ranitz, CEO of SURF, said:
"Privacy is very important for education. Zoom has been able to provide good solutions in harmonious cooperation with us and that is worth a lot."
"I am incredibly proud of the team that worked hard to get these results. It may inspire other parties to work together in a similar way."
How has Zoom's privacy policy changed?
- EEA restriction: European businesses will be given the option to keep their data inside the EEA by the end of 2022. Although this is not a legal requirement, EEA data protection authorities take an increasingly negative view of data leaving the EEA. Keeping data within the EEA will avoid any such problems in the future.
- Data processor: Zoom has changed its status from a data controller to a data processor, allowing users more control over their data.
- Transparency: The privacy policy has become more transparent for users and enterprises. You can view all of its latest changes online.
- Commitments: Zoom has committed to making future changes and following recommendations by SURF and the Dutch government.
How will the changes affect users?
- Performance issues: There are concerns that some features will have reduced performance due to data not being allowed out of the EEA. The extent of performance loss is not yet known because Zoom's solution is still being built.
- Data preferences: Updates are already in place, and Zoom users do not need to do anything. They will have more control over their data preferences, however, and SURF has published guidance for its institutions to navigate these options.
Glory Francke, Senior Privacy Attorney at Zoom, told UC Today: "The pace at which privacy legislation changes and emerges, it's clear that privacy by design is in the earliest stages of the software development life cycle."
