Zoom has become popular as a meeting platform during this COVID-19 crisis but security researchers have called Zoom “a privacy disaster” and “fundamentally corrupt”. What Zoom’s current privacy policy says is worse than “You don’t have any privacy here!”
A few things you need to know about Zoom:
- All Zoom meetings are monitored for content to sell ads.
- Anyone can easily join video meetings by guessing the URL used to access the meeting.
- Zoom does not have end-to-end encryption, anyone at Zoom can watch your meetings.
- Zoom used to install a hidden web server that allowed your computer to join a call, activating your camera and microphone without telling you.
- A recent bug gave hackers access to your webcam and microphone on Mac’s through Zoom, without your permission.
- Zoom sends your data to Facebook, even if you do not have a Facebook account.
- Hackers are selling critical vulnerabilities that would allow someone to hack you and spy on your calls.
For those and other reasons we use Microsoft Teams at Computer Consultant Professionals, and it is far more secure than Zoom. If your business is licensed for Office 365, you are entitled to use Microsoft Teams, at no extra cost and even if you’re currently not licensed for Office 365, Microsoft is offering Office 365 E1 for free for six months.
But don’t just take our word for it:
- Here’s the Australian Financial review saying the same
- The Guardian has listed reasons why ‘Zoom is malware‘
- The US Senate has been ordered to stop using it
- Taiwan cabinet told it’s government agencies to stop using it
- Google, SpaceX and a bunch of other organisations are banning it’s use
- As well as it’s use by schools in New York and across America
- Here’s an annotated version of their privacy policy
- Hackers are selling a critical exploit that would allow people to spy on your calls
