Zoom is the leading platform for online video conference calls. Zoom recently updated its Terms of Service (ToS). The change was to grant rights to for Zoom use of content for “machine learning”/AI.
The story sparked a lot of concern and echoes a key question -- what is "content" and who owns it??
Stackdiary.com broke the story on Zoom updating its ToS in this article by Alex Ivanovs on 8.8.23
https://stackdiary.com/zoom-terms-now-allow-training-ai-on-user-content-with-no-opt-out/
Several artists began sharing posts about this update to the Zoom ToS. Here are screen shots of post on the public Facebook page of artist Craig Elliot.
Here are screen shots of the Zoom ToS Section 10.4 paragraph for the details.
News of this update prompted me to book a phone appointment with Intellectual Property (IP) attorney Jonathan Tobin to get his insights on the situation. His law firm, Counsel for Creators, specializes in Copyright, Trademark, and legal issues for artists and creators. I'm a long time subscriber to the subscription service they offer -- Creators Legal Program -- which allows me to book a 30 mins phone appointment with an IP attorney on their staff for quick access to professional resources on creative rights questions. https://counselforcreators.com/creators-legal-program/
This firm is focused on educating artists and creators about their creative rights and how to protect them.
I spoke with Jon on 8.3.23. This is a summary of our conversation regarding recent changes to the Zoom Terms of Service. This summary is not a verbatim account, and has been edited by me for clarity and length. Nothing here should be considered legal advice.
# # #
What do the changes to the Zoom Terms of Service (ToS) mean? Are there any alterative platforms to Zoom that won’t have these changes?
It’s
likely all the platforms like Zoom will be updating their ToS with similar
language regarding data collection for AI training. The other platforms are
probably watching how this roll is going for Zoom and will find ways to do it
better.
Collecting
data for AI training is the wave of the future. We need to understand that “Metadata”
-- technical data about the use of the platform-- and “Customer Content”
– unique visual and verbal content data from users on the platform -- are different.
For
example - On a Zoom meeting, there is a
difference between an individual Zoom meeting (the specifics of the topic and
how it is presented visually and verbally) and a general summary of the
technical data used on the platform while the meeting takes place.
It
seems likely the intent of the change to Zoom’s ToS is about the Metadata , not
the Customer Content. Zoom wants access to Metadata to build AI training that
will make improvements to their service. They need language in their ToS to
enable this. These changes to their ToS addresses this need of the company.
If
in the future they want to make AI tools that use the unique visual and verbal
content of the individual conversations/meetings, then consent will be need to sought
under those circumstances.
It’s unlikely the intent is to collect visual/verbal content due to the blowback that would happen if that material started appearing out of context (ie on a Zoom-created You Tube channel).
What is Customer Content vs Metadata?
“Customer content” on Zoom is audio or visual content that’s on-screen, specific to individual meetings on the platform. It includes anything that’s in the individual meeting. “Metadata” includes technical specs like frame rate, time of use on the platform, quality of the customer experience/performance of the platform. Metadata MAY include some very general reference to the topic of the conversation, just to categorize it. Metadata is the technical stuff that Zoom and similar platforms may feel they own and this is what they want to collect.
Zoom and others would lose customers if they randomly just started collecting – and/or dispersing – Customer Content.
It won’t protect your Customer Content to add an “opt out” disclaimer at the front or end of your meeting. You have to accept their ToS to use the platform. Both parties would have to agree to any changes to the ToS.
If Zoom and other platforms do go in the direction of wanting to capture individual content (or info about the user or the meeting) they will need to ask for consent.
Be mindful this “consent” may end up appearing as a familiar, general prompt – along the lines of: “Do you mind if we use your data to improve the quality of our service?” When you see a prompt like that – on any platform -- think carefully before you select “yes or no.” Some platforms are more suspect in their use of your Customer Content data than others (ie TikTok)
What about other platforms like Microsoft Teams; WebEx; Whereby.com; Jitsi.org; etc??
Chances are they will follow the lead of Zoom. Zoom is the dominant player in this market. There may be platforms with a smaller market share that tailor their ToS in a different direction… but they won’t take the place of Zoom and other platforms with greater market share.
This feels like a hot mess w/ a lot of spinning plates in motion. How will the dust settle??
Things will go on as normal. It’s similar to years ago when there was pushback on cookies and other trackers for web use. Now we all just click through or select … but cookies don’t really impact how we use the internet.
News stories about AI are the hot topic right now. We are in the nascent area for the laws that may be coming. A year ago, stories about image generators were just starting to circulate. No one knows where this will go.
AI will bring challenges… but maybe AI will find better ways to unmask deep fakes. All kinds of mischief – or good -- is possible.
Fight back by getting even more creative.
The
basics of indie art life are still a solid foundation for a career. Build your
brand. Educate your followers. Engage with them. When you have a fan base that
supports you -- AI and other technical innovations can’t replace what you alone
provide.
# # #
As soon as pushback began to circulate about this change, a flurry of updates arrived online. This process isn't done yet. But the summary above reflects the situation for now. Here are some additional links with press coverage and other resources.
CNBC summary of the Zoom story -- this is an excellent recap
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/07/zoom-ai-tools-trained-using-some-customer-data.html
https://explore.zoom.us/en/terms/
Zoom official blog post about the policy change
https://blog.zoom.us/zooms-term-service-ai/?fbclid=
Engadget story Zoom reverses ToS changes
Gizmodo story Zoom contradicts ToS story.
https://gizmodo.com/zoom-ai-privacy-policy-train-on-your-data-1850712655?fbclid=
8.11.23 article on Variety.com
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and I'll be doing a blog post later about Kickstarter's recent policy regarding AI
https://updates.kickstarter.com/introducing-our-new-ai-policy/
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