Zoom, the popular video conferencing platform has agreed to pay $85 million to its users as part of a class-action lawsuit settlement. The company that mislead its users about end-to-end encryption is now ready to make compensation for its users. Zoom agreed to settle the allegations last year and promised to make security improvements to safeguard consumer data. But the settlement didn't include anything for the affected users. Now, the company has agreed to pay for its wrongdoing and is ready to pay $85 million to its users.

As per the ArsTechnica report, Zoom will now give $15 or $25 to every user, depending on free or paid subscriptions between March 30, 2016, and July 30, 2021. Users will receive this payment, once the proposed settlement is approved by the court.

Following the accusation and settlement reports, Zoom spokesperson reportedly said this to the media publications –

The privacy and security of our users are top priorities for Zoom, and we take seriously the trust our users place in us. We are proud of the advancements we have made to our platform, and look forward to continuing to innovate with privacy and security at the forefront.

Zoom reportedly lied about its encryption on its videoconferencing app. And, if this was not it, the company was accused of providing data to Facebook and Google.

In November last year, FTC (Federal Trade Commission) filed a complaint that since at least June 2016, Zoom mislead users by touting that it offered end-to-end 256-bit encryption to secure users’ communication. As per FTC’s complaint, Zoom has touted this in its Security Guides, in its HIPAA Compliance Guide, in blog posts, in direct communications with customers as well.

For instance, when a user hovered over a green padlock in the top left corner of a Meeting, the user would see a popup stating, “Zoom is using an end to end encrypted connection.” Zoom touted its level of encryption almost everywhere in order to gain more users and thus sell its videoconferencing services.

The complaint document by FTC records almost every instance or source where Zoom has touted its end-to-end encryption.

But, it turned out that Zoom failed to keep its claims. In April 2020, Zoom acknowledged that there is a discrepancy between the commonly accepted definitions of end-to-end encryption.