Zoom may have dodged a tougher outcome from allegations of lax security, but the Federal Trade Commission's new acting chair clearly has issues with the company.

The FTC has released its settlement agreement with Zoom, which has become a go-to meeting site for governments, businesses, and virtual birthdays and holidays around the electronic hearth, and the new acting FTC chair is not happy with the decision, which was an 11th-hour vote by the Trump FTC.

Also Read: House Republicans Happy with Zoom Settlement

Zoom settled allegations by the FTC that it misled users about its level of security. 

The settlement requires Zoom to undertake a "comprehensive security program," guard against security flaws in software updates and make sure those updates don't interfere with third-party security and get biennial assessments of its security from an independent source over which the FTC had approval.

It must also notify the FTC of any data breaches.

The decision was 3-2 to finalize the settlement, an eleventh-hour vote Jan. 19--the settlement was released Monday (Feb. 1)--with the Republicans agreeing to the settlement and the Democrats, including now acting chair Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, dissenting.

Slaughter said the decision was "particularly troubling in light of the fact that the Department of Justice recently charged a Zoom employee with allegedly participating in a scheme to surveil, disclose, and censor political and religious speech of individuals located in the United States and around the world at the behest of the People’s Republic of China. These facts heighten my concern with Zoom’s ability to protect user privacy, and, for these reasons, I respectfully dissent from the Commission’s decision to finalize this order."

Also Read: Senators Seek DOJ Investigation of Zoom

Specifically, the FTC had alleged that Zoom misrepresented its level of security of its meeting platform  by calling it "end-to-end" encryption when it wasn't, claimed meetings stored on the cloud were encrypted when they were stored up to 60 days afterwards unencrypted, and undermined an Apple Safari browser safeguard that protected from some types of malware.

Democratic FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks and Democratic Federal Trade commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter will team up for a March hearing on 5G, Big Data, privacy, AI and their impact on civil rights and marginalized communities. 

Both commissioners are minority members of their respective Republican majority commissions. 

The March 16 hearing will be March 16 in Detroit and feature Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.), according to Starks' office. 

"The promises of an unprecedented level of connectivity with the deployment of 5G and sophisticated algorithms that utilize massive amounts of data are likely to transform the way we live, work, and play," Starks office said in a statement. "The highest levels of connectivity cannot and should not be reserved for the few; the benefits of 5G technology must meet the needs of all Americans, including low-income people, people of color, people living with disabilities, people residing in rural communities, children, and the many ways in which those identities intersect." 

They said that connection is half the battle. "When these Americans are connected, we must simultaneously work to minimize the privacy harms and other data abuses that may disproportionately fall on marginalized communities and particularly vulnerable populations, such as children." 

The Federal Trade Commission is now up to full strength.

Sworn in this week were four of the five new commissioners--Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, Noah Joshua Phillips, Rohit Chopra and new chair Joseph Simons, who was the first sworn in, on May 1.

Acting chair Maureen Ohlhausen will remain a Republican commissioner pending the status of her judgeship. Christine Wilson, who has been confirmed by the Senate but not sworn in yet, will replace Ohlhausen once that judgeship nomination is approved.

"I also congratulate Christine, who will take my seat if I am so fortunate as to be confirmed by the Senate as a judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims." Ohlhausen said last week of Wilson's confirmation.

In January, President Donald Trump nominated Ohlhausen to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

Already exited is Terrell McSweeny, whose last day was April 28.

Before the swearings-in, the FTC had been down to two commissioners, acting chair Ohlhausen and McSweeny, a Democrat.

The FTC will be under increased scrutiny now that it will be principally responsible for overseeing network neutrality following the FCC's reclassification of ISPs as information services not subject to Title II common carrier regs. Common Carriers are exempt from FTC oversight.