Zoom Infringing Privacy: Letter Petition to CJI Seeking Ban

Over the past few weeks, Zoom had surged into global popularity during COVID-19 outbreak. The reasons being its features to free access, slots for almost 100 participants at a time, sharing the screen for files, messages, pdfs, whiteboard facility, less internet consumption etc, through a video call. However, the platform has exhibited massive concerns for violating the fundamental right to privacy, a landmark judgment passed by the Supreme Court in the case of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017). This case came into limelight because of ‘Zoom bombing’ where people using the app were bombarded with malicious videos, emails and messages from strangers. They have also complained that the screen displays some nude videos amid any meetings. Several countries have expressed this concern and questioned the security of the platform. The CEO and Founder of the app had confessed its vulnerability himself and urged to improve its services within three months. The Zoom app usage is already been banned in Germany, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in), India’s nodal cyber security agency, taking the matter suo moto warned its user about data leakage and privacy invasion, to chances of a cyber attack. The Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord) working under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) cautioned, “Zoom is not a safe platform” and issued 16-page advisory to its people on 12.04.2020. The government had issued certain guidelines for the current users against such fragility for the private individuals who wish to continue its use. The government had previously guided his officials not to use Zoom for official purpose, as it is prone to the enemies. The alleged app is extensively used for chatting, online classes, meetings and conferences and other related programmes.

On Friday 17, a letter petition addressing the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde has been submitted by Advocates Sanpreet Singh Ajmani and Aneesh Sharma, seeking a ban on its downloads and usages of Zoom app as it is accused of infringing the Right to Privacy. The petitioner contended that it is not safe and does not provide end-to-end encryption. Since it is used across-the-board to conduct online classes, the data could be used to exploit the young generation by using their videos for illegal and pornographic purposes. It further mentioned the MHA Advisory, which says, once the ministry concluded that the app is unsafe; it should then recommend a ban rather than any further suggestions measures. The petitioner has also asserted that the developers of the Zoom have admitted their application’s flaws themselves. The letter penned the conclusion by detailing the destruction that can be faced by private individuals as not every person can adhere to the guidelines of MHA, it places user’s data at risk and therefore, an immediate and urgent need to ban the download and use of the application is alarming.

The outbreak of Coronavirus has forced people to work from home and the drastic use of Zoom app is conspicuous. With due respect to the concerned petition and the Court, a ban on the use of the app could not be a successful move towards the call. Another video conferencing app would be chosen, instead of Zoom, but ultimately the money will be circulating outside India during this crisis and the problem of data safety and privacy will persist. Thus, an initiative towards building India-based video conferencing application is required to function effectively in this lockdown. The current app uses Chinese-based-servers and ironically, China itself is using its own build app. Since the market of video conferencing is scaling these days, by developing, the India-based app could bear fruits for Indian markets by generating huge money also; the risk of data leakage could be sustained.

By-

Kumari Simran

Student Reporter

REFERENCE: livelaw.in