Ticker: Zoom to pay $85M for security glitches; US manufacturing expands in July, but slows

Zoom will pay $85 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that weak privacy controls opened too many peepholes into the personal information of users and that it was too easy for outsiders to disrupt video meetings during the early stages of the pandemic.

The proposed agreement must still be approved by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh. A hearing on the settlement is scheduled for Oct. 21 in San Jose, Calif.

Millions of people in the U.S. who have used Zoom since March 31, 2020, could be eligible for a slice of the settlement. The payment amounts are expected to average $34 or $35 for those who subscribed to Zoom’s paid version, and $11 or $12 for the overwhelming majority who used the free version, based on estimates in court documents.

The lawsuit alleged that the Silicon Valley company violated the trust of millions of people by sharing the personal information of users with platforms like Facebook, Google and Microsoft-owned LinkedIn.

Manufacturing slowing

Growth in U.S. manufacturing slowed for a second straight month in July amid ongoing supply-chain problems.

The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its index of manufacturing activity declined by 1.1 percentage points to a reading of 59.5. The index had also slowed in June, dropping to 60.6 from a reading of 61. in May.

Any reading above 50 indicates growth in the manufacturing sector. July was the 14th consecutive month manufacturing has grown after contracting in April 2020 when the coronavirus triggered nationwide business shutdowns.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3jg0Uaf