Sunday 29 March 2020

UPDATED: Zoom beams iOS user data to Facebook for targeted ads

According to ITPro, Zoom has updated the code in its platform to remove the in-app ‘Login with Facebook’ feature on iOS platforms after it emerged the Facebook SDK was unnecessarily collecting user device information.

The conferencing app, which has exploded in popularity, doesn’t explicitly say it sends data to Facebook in its privacy policy

The video conferencing platform Zoom is sending iOS users’ analytics data to Facebook without explicit consent, even if users don’t have an account with the social networking giant.

The popularity of the online communications software has exploded in the last few weeks as more and more workers and individuals adjust to remote working and life in self-isolation, and search for ways to stay in touch.

Zoom is transferring some user data to Facebook through one of the social media platform’s software development kits (SDKs), however, according to an analysis by Motherboard. Zoom users may not be aware this is happening, however. 

The conferencing app connects to Facebook’s Graph application programming interface (API) after downloading and opening the app. This API is the main route through which developers can send and receive data to and from Facebook. 


According to the analysis, Zoom notifies Facebook when an iOS user opens the app, and then provides details on the user’s device, including the model, as well as their time zone, and city they’re connecting from. 

More info and resources: Motherboard, ITPro

Saturday 28 March 2020

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams Commercial Cloud Trial offer

The Microsoft Teams Commercial Cloud Trial is replaced by Microsoft Teams Exploratory beginning in January 2020. To learn about this new offer, read Manage Teams Exploratory license.

The Microsoft Teams Exploratory experience lets users in your organization who have Azure Active Directory (AAD) and are not licensed for Teams initiate an exploratory experience of Teams. Admins can switch this feature on or off for users in their organization. The earlier Microsoft Commercial Cloud Trial is now replaced by The Teams Exploratory experience.

Who's eligible?

As long as the user has a managed AAD domain email address and currently does not have/haven't been assigned a Teams license, they are eligible for this experience. For example, if a user has Office 365 Business (which doesn't include Teams), they're eligible for the Teams Exploratory experience.

How users sign up for the Teams Exploratory experience

Eligible users can sign up for the Teams Exploratory experience by signing in to Teams (teams.microsoft.com). They will be assigned this license automatically and the tenant admin will receive an email notification the first time someone in your org starts the Teams Exploratory experience.

Differences between Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Teams free

Microsoft Teams free
Microsoft Teams
Features
Maximum members
500,000 per org
Potentially 
unlimited 
with an 
enterprise 
license
File storage
2 GB/user and 10 GB 
of shared storage
1 TB/user
Guest access
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1:1 and group online 
audio and video calls
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Channel meetings
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Screen sharing
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Scheduled meetings
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Meeting recording
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Available with 
MS Stream
Phone calls and audio 
conferencing
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Administration
Admin tools for managing 
users and apps
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Usage reporting for 
Office 365 Services
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99.9% financially-backed 
SLA uptime
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Configurable user 
settings and policies
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More info and sources: Microsoft Support website, Microsoft Docs