Zoom app takes another hit as the US Senate and Google ban its use by employees

During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as people are working from home and social distancing, video-conferencing and video chat apps have gained a lot of popularity. One of the apps that has seen a spike in its usage is Zoom. However, with the growth in popularity, some privacy and security flaws have surfaced for the app and it has seen some criticism.

Now, Reuters reports that the US senate has advised its employees to restrain from using the app over the security and privacy issues it has experienced, such as sharing data with Facebook on the app’s back-end, alleged vulnerability to hackers, and a phenomenon, known as ‘Zoombombing’, where uninvited people joined video conferences.

However, the app is not entirely banned from usage by US Senate employees yet, even though they were asked to find an alternative platform for remote working and online video conferencing.

Additionally, Google has also taken measures against the Zoom app. The company sent an email to employees last week, forbidding them from using the app for work-related communications and the app has therefore been disabled on company computers and laptops.

What’s more, one of Zoom’s shareholders filed a lawsuit against it on accusations of fraud and withholding of information. Previously, the app got banned in NYC public schools, as well as for employees of Tesla and SpaceX.