[dmurray]

It seems reasonable for Zoom or any app to know whether its window has focus. That doesn't imply spying on anything else you're doing.

[bobwaycott]

I think the issue is not that Zoom knows if its application window has focus, but that it reports focus state to anyone other than the user.

For example:

1. Zoom knows it’s not focused on Bob’s machine, and notifies Bob that someone has begun sharing their screen.

2. Zoom knows it’s not focused on Bob’s machine and notifies Sally of this.

Scenario 1 seems acceptable and helpful. Scenario 2 is invasive and unnecessary.

[ss3000]

This reminds me of read receipts in chat apps. Hate them with a passion. I usually just leave the chat itself unopened and read the notifications until I'm ready to actually reply.

[dx034]

It can be helpful for certain scenarios. And others don't have to enable it. For companies, at least in the enterprise plan you can also disable it company-wide (according to reports by others). So companies can simply opt out for everyone.