It also had to change some of its policies after a Motherboard report found Zoom sends data from users of its iOS app to Facebook for advertising purposes. The company had to fix a bug that would have allowed hackers to take over a Zoom user’s Mac. “Zoom bombings”, in which hackers enter chat rooms to drop racist language and violent threats, persist. The company has promised to fix issues with privacy and security, recently making default options more secure by requiring passwords to join meetings.Ĭons: Zoom has had some glaring problems of privacy and security. It’s a great option if you are not discussing anything private or secure – a virtual happy hour with friends, for example. Pros: It’s seamless to use – attendees can join by a publicly shared link from anywhere, and joining does not require downloading any software. It quickly became the most popular option for meetings and other events moving online following shelter-in-place orders this year. The app is headquartered in San Jose, California, and was valued at $16bn when it went public in 2019. Here are some of your video-conferencing options for staying connected while sheltering in place: Zoom Companies should be in compliance with privacy frameworks like Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation or California’s Consumer Privacy Act, he continued, and should also tell users what data is being collected and what third parties can access that data. “Companies and schools should consider supporting multiple software options, configuring them securely, and educating their users about the risks.”Īmong the most important criteria for evaluating a video conferencing platform is end-to-end encryption of calls and data protection policies, said Charles Ragland, security engineer at Digital Shadows, a San Francisco-based security provider.

“There is a tradeoff between security and usability when picking a video-conferencing product,” he said.

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