New Delhi, May 23 (IANS): Soon after the Supreme Court sought the response of the Central government over a petition seeking a ban on Zoom, the video calling app claimed that it "takes user privacy, security, and trust extremely seriously."
"Zoom takes user privacy, security and trust extremely seriously. We have been focused on enhancing our commitment to security and privacy under our 90-day plan announced on April 1, and have made significant progress," the company said in a statement.
The statement came after a bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy issued notice to the Centre on the plea seeking a ban on the app.
The company has further stated that it has been helping some of the world's largest financial services companies, leading telecommunications providers, government agencies, universities and others stay connected in a safe and secure manner.
"In India, we've been proud to help businesses, government agencies, communities, school teachers, and other users stay connected during this challenging and unprecedented time," it added.
While the court was hearing the matter on Friday, petitioner Harsh Chugh argued that the software application is not safe and did not have end-to-end encryption, and as a consequence, it is violating the Information Technology Act 2000 and Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009.
"The reliefs which are sought in the present petition are urgent in view of the penetration of offending software increasing with each day and as the concern raised in the present petition has pan-India ramifications," said the plea.
The plea submitted that the software application is a threat to individual's privacy and cited that the CEO of Zoom Video Communications has already "apologised publicly and accepted the app to be faulty in terms of providing a secure environment digitally which is against the norms of cyber security".
As a result, the petitioner contends the software application is prone to hacking and cyber breaches, which have already been reported.
The plea argued that the Zoom app practices data hoarding and cyber hoarding, and also issues of unauthorised access termed as "zoom-bombing", where a stranger can join Zoom meetings and share objectionable content.
"That it is important to realise how Zoom consistently violates its duty to implement and maintain reasonable security practices, and misleads consumers about the security benefits of the product. Zoom has targeted consumers, businesses, and schools," said the plea.
The plea contended that it is important to put in place a standard regulation to safeguard the rights of the citizens.