Zoom now wants you to focus on Section 10 of their ToS which they've changed today to say they won't use your calls and other data to train their AI models. Instead, focus on Section 15. Zoom (like most Big Tech ToSs) can change those terms at any time.
They laughably say you should "regularly check" their legal pages for those notices and if you don't but keep using the services you've agreed to the changes. These services are unethically deployed technology at their most fundamental level.
@karen
> These services are unethically deployed technology at their most fundamental level
I think it was @pluralistic who pointed out that this kind of corporate ToS ratburglary is generally illegal under basic laws against fraud, that are just not being enforced. As with anti-trust laws. You say its unethical there, but do you have any thoughts on the legal side?
@strypey@karen@pluralistic In France at least, for some of these contracts where the ToS are unilaterally defined by the provider, there is a legal requirement that said provider inform users of the changes a certain amount of time before they go into effect. Mind you, the only remedy is that you can cancel free of charge if you don't agree to the new terms, but at least they can't (legally) slip the changes under the users' radar.
@aaribaud
> a legal requirement that said provider inform users of the changes a certain amount of time before they go into effect
Right, but that still allows the provider to hook you in under a generous ToS, get you locked in and facing high switching costs to leave their platform, and then change the ToS so something you never would have agreed to if it can be there from day one.
IMHO this is a fraudulent practice. But unlike @karen, IANAL.
@strypey@karen@pluralistic Yes. However, the Federal Arbitration Act allows companies to opt-out of the law with levels of legal argumentation not dissimilar to writing "I DO NOT ACCEPT THIS OFFER TO CONTRACT" on an arrest warrant. Except for some reason the courts actually bought the sovcit argument, so enforcement has to be done individually.
@karen following that, i was wondering the other day if there was a service to monitor TOS pages from companies, and get updates when they change. I fear there would be a lot of noise, but at least it would make it possible to follow the many services we all use with a bit less work.
Ai, the other day in context of Zoom ToS I bumped into this URL to a service that tracks many ToS'es and allows you to be notified by email on ToS changes of particular services you use.
Forgot the URL, though..
I didn't check out this service, because I wasn't too interested. The idea is good, if that service itself is privacy-respecting and not selling your PII.
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