Let’s talk Privacy: Zoom vs Microsoft Teams vs Google Meet

We all know these services. They are cloud-based video conferencing services. You can use it to virtually meet with other people by video and audio.

But which one is the best for your privacy?

Zoom

As they are stating, they receive only: Account Information, Profile and Participant Information, Contacts and Calendar Integrations, Settings, Registration Information, Device Information, ‘Meeting, Webinar, and Messaging Content and Context’, Product and Website Usage, Communications with Zoom and Information from Partners

That’s quite a lot! So what are they using it for anyway?

Zoom Product and Services, Research and Development — find out what new services and features to bring to the world

Marketing, Promotions, and Third-Part Advertising — yes, they are sharing your data with Third-Party Partners so that you can receive tailored Ad’s with regard to your activity

Legal Reasons — To make sure that you comply with applicable law enforced internationally and by local governments

Zoom doesn’t have a specified retention time. It is varied by a lot of factors.

Microsoft Teams

They only collect Content, Profile Data, Call History, Call Quality data, Support/Feedback data, Diagnostic and service data.

Even though they are sharing it with Third-Party partners as well, they only receive Customer Directs, Online Service Terms, and specifics required by applicable laws.

The good part is that it only retains the data for 30 days! After that, everything is deleted.

Google Meet

They are collecting strictly the data you openly share on your account and state that your data is not used for advertising.

You can sync your data between devices and even take it with you! They allow you to download ALL your data history that was collected from your account in a single click.

From what I presented we can safely assume that Google Meet has the best privacy overall while Zoom tries to collect as much data as possible. So if you are an individual who values privacy, you can consider this when choosing where your next meeting will take place.