Zoom for iOS shares data with Facebook, even if users don’t have an account on that platform.

The popularity of the video conferencing app exploded during the COVID-19 outbreak, becoming essentially the industry standard for video conferencing and remote work meetings.

According to a network traffic analysis conducted by motherboard, Zoom for iOS sends data to Facebook without mentioning it in its privacy policy.

Facebook’s Facebook Graph API is connected to Zoom after downloading and installing, which is not unusual, since many app manufacturers use Facebook software development kits (SDKs) to implement features in their software.

There is nothing in Zoom’s privacy policy that makes it clear that this type of data exchange is taking place. Facebook’s Facebook profile may be collected by Zoom, but it doesn’t explicitly mention sharing data about users who don’t have a Facebook account. The company says it shares data with third parties, but does not specifically name Facebook.

Among other things, Zoom notifies Facebook when the iOS app is opened, what device the user is using, what media they are on, and what city and time zone they are connecting from. The data also contains a unique advertiser tag associated with the user’s device, which companies use to target ads.

This is not the first time Zoom has encountered a privacy or security error. In 2019, a security researcher discovered a zero-day vulnerability that made users vulnerable to webcam hacking without their knowledge.