Zoom

Always Listening: The Mute Button Won’t Stop Video Conferencing Services from Recording You

A recent study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that when using “many popular apps” for video teleconferencing, audio data is being sent to the companies hosting the services — even when you think you are on mute. Researched created a Big Tech-style algorithm that allowed them determine what else people were doing while on mute, developing an AI that could accurately predict if users were cooking, cleaning, or typing.

Professional microphone in radio studio

Better.com Execs Jump Ship After Backlash Against CEO Who Fired 900 Employees over Zoom

Three top executives at Better.com have reportedly resigned from the mortgage lender after CEO Vishal Garg received major backlash for awkwardly firing at least 900 employees over Zoom. Additional bizarre communications from Garg have leaked out, such as an email reading: “You are a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS and…DUMB DOLPHINS get caught in nets and eaten by sharks. SO STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME.”

Better.com boss Vishal Garg

Toobin Trouble: 1 in 4 Bosses Has Fired Someone over Misbehavior on Zoom

According to a recent survey, almost one in four executives has fired employees over their behavior during Zoom meetings. Ranging from chronic lateness and embarrassing gaffes with the mute button all the way to inappropriate lewd activity such as the infamous case of CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, the majority of managers survey reported levied some form of disciplinary action due to employee Zoom behavior.

Jeffrey Toobin with his pants on

Zoom Shares Drop 16% as Growth Slows

The video conferencing company Zoom, which enjoyed massive growth during the coronavirus pandemic, has suffered a 16 percent slide in share price today after the company reported second-quarter earnings that beat expectations but showed slow growth.

Zoom stock market

CA Teacher to Zoom Class: ‘Sick to My Stomach’ over Parents Telling Teachers ‘How to Do Their Job’

A California high school teacher was caught on a Zoom video telling students to “dare” their parents “to come at” her in response to parents’ collective push to end remote learning and have their children return to in-person classes full time. The teacher added, “I am so sick to my stomach of parents trying to tell educators how to do their job.”

Zoom class

Details Emerge on How Zoom Censored Users in America for Communist China

An executive at the popular video-conferencing app Zoom was charged by the DOJ with conspiring to terminate Zoom meetings that commemorated the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre at the behest of the Chinese government. The incident is a troubling signal of the lengths companies based in America will go to maintain access to the lucrative Chinese market.

Counter-protesters hold up Chinese flags to oppose the protesters gathering in central Lon

Zoom Refuses to Host NYU Event with Terrorist Leila Khaled

An event organized by professors at New York University was shut down by Zoom recently. Zoom refused to participate in the event due to its inclusion of Leila Khaled, a terrorist that participated in two plane hijackings in the 1960s and 1970s. Zoom pulled out of another Khaled event in September that was organized by professors at San Francisco State University.

Terrorist Leila Khaled graffiti

Ice Cube: I Skipped Kamala Harris’s Celebrity Zoom Call Because ‘I Want to Get Things Done,’ Not ‘Have a Rallying Cry Conversation’

Rapper Ice Cube says he skipped a Zoom call with vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris and several other celebrities, including rappers Snoop Dogg and Killer Mike, because he wanted to move forward with the work of advancing his Contract with Black America plan instead of having what he called a “rallying cry conversation.”

Stuart C. Wilson; ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

Minnesota State Hosts ‘Processing Election Emotions’ Seminar for Faculty

The Minnesota State University system hosted a webinar for faculty members that are experiencing anxiety over the upcoming presidential election. According to the event’s description: “Faculty who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) are invited to gather in community on a 90-minute Zoom video call, to discuss issues surrounding the upcoming elections. This BIPOC-focused space is in recognition that the way we negotiate the world — both in and outside the classroom — is fundamentally different from the ways our white counterparts do.”

US President Donald Trump greets supporters as he hosts a Make America Great Again campaig