Since the lockdown, to control the Coronavirus pandemic, became pervasive across the globe, video conferencing apps and other online apps have gained immense popularity. Among them, Zoom and Houseparty apps have seen tremendous growth even after getting into controversies like user permissions for the former and hacking user data for the latter. Complete Coverage: Coronavirus
Crux of the Matter
Coronavirus containment required governments across the world to take strict measures like complete lockdowns of city, state, or even country. With the government also endorsing work from home, video calling applications like Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. have gained immense popularity.
Zooooom Zoom is a video conferencing app that can accommodate up to 100 participants with a time limit of 40 minutes in the “freemium” version. As per Firstpost, Zoom’s daily usage shot up by 300% since the lockdown. Its daily active users also were up by 340%. The company’s stock surged, valuing the company at $29 billion, which is more than airline companies like United Airlines or American Airlines. Universities have shifted to Zoom for conducting online classes, whereas companies began conducting meetings on it.
This morning I chaired the first ever digital Cabinet. Our message to the public is: stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives. #StayHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/pgeRc3FHIp — Boris Johnson #StayHomeSaveLives (@BorisJohnson) March 31, 2020
However, a lawsuit was filed against Zoom claiming that it was sending user data to Facebook irrespective of the user having a Facebook account or logging in using Facebook. In response to the lawsuit, Zoom founder Eric Yuan said, “We originally implemented the ‘Login with Facebook’ feature using the Facebook SDK for iOS in order to provide our users with another convenient way to access our platform. However, we were made aware that the Facebook SDK was collecting device information unnecessary for us to provide our services… Our customers’ privacy is incredibly important to us, and therefore we decided to remove the Facebook SDK in our iOS client.” Zoom users are requested to update their apps so that their data is no longer delivered to Facebook.
What is Houseparty? An app called Houseparty that allows a maximum of 8 people to talk or let’s say have a “virtual party” on a video call has gained a lot of traction. Worries for Houseparty began as users complained that the app allowed their email, Spotify, Uber, online banking accounts, etc. to be hacked. Many experts have also raised concerns that it collects a ‘worrying amounts of personal information’ of the user. Some said that, while the user may request for deletion of her data, the company may still possess it as a backup as required by law. Houseparty, however, denied allegations of hack and announced a $1 million bounty for anyone who can prove it.
We are investigating indications that the recent hacking rumors were spread by a paid commercial smear campaign to harm Houseparty. We are offering a $1,000,000 bounty for the first individual to provide proof of such a campaign to bounty@houseparty.com. — Houseparty (@houseparty) March 31, 2020
Curiopedia
Videotelephony comprises of the technologies for the reception and transmission of audio-video signals by users at different locations, for communication between people in real time. A videophone is a telephone with a video display, capable of simultaneous video and audio for communication between people in real time. Videoconferencing implies the use of this technology for a group or organizational meeting rather than for individuals, in a videoconference. Telepresence may refer either to a high-quality videotelephony system where the goal is to create the illusion that remote participants are in the same room or to meetup technology, which goes beyond video into robotics (such as moving around the room or physically manipulating objects). Videoconferencing has also been called “visual collaboration” and is a type of groupware. While development of video conferencing started in the late 19th century, the technology only became available to the public starting in the 1930s. These early demonstrations were installed at “booths” in post offices and shown at various world expositions. It took until 1970 for AT&T to launch the first true video conferencing system, wherein anyone could subscribe to the service and have the technology in their home or office. The development of advanced video codecs, more powerful CPUs, and high-bandwidth Internet telecommunication services in the late 1990s allowed videophones to provide high quality low-cost colour service between users almost any place in the world that the Internet is available. More Info
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