WebinarTV has been scraping and sharing private Zoom meetings from anonymous addiction recovery programs, medical support groups, and private social clubs, according to investigative reporting by 404 Media.
The platform, which claims to host over 200,000 scraped webinars, has posted recordings of 12-step meetings where participants' full names and faces are visible. These sessions are designed to be confidential to protect members from the stigma associated with substance abuse.
"If I found out I was in one of these meetings captured by WebinarTV, I would feel terrified and betrayed," said journalist Gillian Brockwell, who attended addiction recovery meetings on Zoom. She noted that anonymity is a critical component of the 12-step recovery model.
Unauthorized data collection
WebinarTV executive Michael Robertson stated that the company asks for permission to "promote" webinars, but evidence shows the site uploads videos before seeking consent. Some participants were unaware their private discussions had been made public.
Kimberly Dorris, executive director of the Graves’ Disease & Thyroid Foundation (GDATF), reported that a vetted session for caregivers was uploaded to the site despite strict privacy measures. The GDATF meeting required a questionnaire to join and used a Zoom waiting room to vet attendees.
"This meeting was not intended to be recorded, but rather to be a private discussion among participants," Dorris wrote in a warning to patient communities.
Earlier reports indicated WebinarTV also uses these scraped videos to generate AI-powered podcasts. One educator discovered a sensitive meeting regarding student protection from ICE raids had been converted into an AI-generated podcast by an automated persona.
Beyond medical and recovery groups, the scraped content includes meetings for nudist groups, where some participants appeared shirtless on camera. It remains unclear if these participants were aware of the unauthorized recording.
