Zoom Shared US User Data With Beijing to Ensure Chinese Market Access, Court Documents Show

A Zoom executive worked with Chinese authorities to provide data on users located outside of China and ensure the U.S. video-call giant retained market access in the country, according to recently unsealed court documents filed by U.S. federal prosecutors.

The documents detailed internal communications between Zoom employees, which showed that Chinese security authorities made numerous requests to the company for data on users and meetings that discussed political and religious topics Beijing deemed unacceptable.

The revelations highlight how users outside of China's shores are increasingly being caught in the crosshairs as the Chinese Communist Party steps up its demands on companies like Zoom to surveil and censor users both at home and abroad. Zoom is a San Jose-based company, whose software is developed in China.

A constant theme underlying these requests was that Zoom would be shut out of the Chinese market if they did not cooperate.

The company said that Jin shared a "Limited amount of individual user data with Chinese authorities," as well as data on less than 10 users based outside of China.

In the plan, Zoom agreed to proactively monitor communications for discussion of topics, including political views, deemed unacceptable to the CCP, migrate the storage of around 1 million China-based users' data to China from the United States, and provide Chinese security authorities special access to Zoom's systems, according to the FBI agent.

While Jin did not have access to data on Zoom's U.S. servers, the FBI agent said that the U.S.-based colleague endeavored to allow Jin access to such data for compliance with the Chinese regime's instructions.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/zoom-shared-american-user-data-with-beijing-to-ensure-access-to-chinese-market-court-documents-show_3627905.html