SPU Zoom Privacy FAQs

The content of this page is sourced from Zoom's Privacy Policy, released March 29, 2020.

What user data is collected by Zoom? 

  • Zoom collects basic technical information, such as the user’s IP address, OS details, and device details. This data is collected as it is required to provide the service and ensure it is delivered effectively under a wide variety of settings in which users may be operating. 
    • This data is anonymized and aggregated immediately upon collection in order to protect users’ identities and privacy.
  • Zoom’s data collection practices for education users are more limited than for general users in order to comply with applicable privacy laws.

Is Zoom in compliance with the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”)?

  • Yes, Zoom’s education use is designed to reflect Zoom’s compliance with the requirements of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”), and other applicable law.
  • Zoom also offers HIPAA compliant accounts. If interested, please contact the CIS Business Systems Team.

Does Zoom sell my information to 3rd parties?

  • Zoom does not sell users’ data. Zoom has never sold user data in the past and has no intention of selling users’ data going forward.
  • Zoom uses third-party advertising service providers (ex: Google) for marketing purposes: to deliver tailored ads to users about products the users may find interesting.
    • For example, if you visit Zoom’s website, later on, depending on a user’s cookie preferences, you may see an ad from Zoom reminding you of all the features that Zoom has to offer). The tailored ads are only used when you visit zoom.us site, but have nothing to do with your use of Zoom’s products (video meetings, audio meetings, etc.)
  • If you do not want to receive targeted ads about Zoom, click the “Cookie Preferences” link at the bottom of any page on the zoom.us site and adjust the slider to “Required Cookies.”

Is Zoom monitoring or recording my meetings without my knowledge?

  • Zoom does not monitor meetings or store them after your meeting is done unless there is a request to record and store them by the meeting host.
  • Participants are alerted via audio and video when they join meetings if the host is recording a meeting, and participants have the option to leave the meeting.
  • When the meeting is recorded, it is, at the host’s choice, stored either locally on the host’s machine or in the Zoom cloud. Zoom has robust and validated access controls to prevent unauthorized access to meeting recordings saved to the Zoom cloud.

A Note About Private Chats

You can save the public chat of any Zoom meetings you attend.

If you save the chat locally to your machine, Zoom will save any private chats you had in the meeting as well. If you happen to copy and paste that chat log into an email or a shared folder - everyone with access to that chat log will be able to read those private messages.

Can uninvited people access my Zoom meetings? 

  • This can potentially happen if you share the link publicly and/or use no safeguards to protect access to your meeting. This is called "Zoom Crashing or Bombing."
  • Please use the best practices outlined here to protect against unwanted guests or crashers.

Is Zoom tracking my device activity while in a meeting? 

  • Attention tracking is a deprecated feature that let meeting hosts see an indicator in the participant panel if a meeting/webinar attendee did not have Zoom in focus during screen sharing.
  • This feature was proactively disabled for all SPU users on March 25, 2020. Zoom removed the feature completely on April 2, 2020.