Zoom is not the only program: these applications also collect data about you

Consumer Reports has released a report on privacy policies on apps and sites for voice and video calls like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx, adding that all of these programs may be collecting more user data than they should.

According to the site, the use of these applications is not insecure, but by accepting the privacy policies of these services, the user gives companies access to a large amount of personal data.

The report noted that all three companies reserve the right to collect information from users’ calls, including: the duration of the call, who is participating in the call, and the IP addresses of each participating person. The report also indicated that the data collected could be combined with information from other sources to create profiles of users and their usage habits, or even use videos of things, such as: training of facial recognition systems.

For their part, the three companies told Consumer Reports that they only create video recordings or transcripts when participants request it through meeting recordings, and promise not to use the recordings directly for advertising.

It should be noted that the world has become more dependent on video conferencing tools, so people are beginning to analyze the security measures and privacy policies of these services. Although the policies of Microsoft, Google and Cisco are not as troubling as Zoom’s problems, it is still important for users to be aware of the data that companies collect about them.