Zoom’s Changing Stances on AI and User Data Have Faculty Alarmed

Inside Higher Ed

Lauren Coffey

August 11, 2023

Teleconference apps like Zoom have become synonymous with the modern classroom, with faculty relying on the services for everything from teaching and meetings to research projects.

But recently updated terms and conditions from Zoom—and subsequent backtracking by the tech company after an outcry—has left higher education faculty and experts with questions and concerns.

“We’ve become so dependent on things like Zoom and that dependence allows them to change things without consulting its users,” said Sukrit Venkatagiri, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Swarthmore College.

On Monday, chatter began on X—the social network formerly known as Twitter—about Zoom updating terms and conditions. Most notably, Zoom stated it would have access to all customer data and could use it to train its artificial intelligence and machine learning systems.

Concern began brewing, with many faculty members joining other Zoom users by publicly sharing their outrage. Some vowed to stop using Zoom altogether.

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