Who’s Zooming Who?
Quarantine has changed the way people communicate with others. With the increased number of imposed lockdowns, the world has seen a massive rise in the usage of a video conferencing app- Zoom.
Zoom has seen a 535% increase in daily traffic in the last month. The pandemic has soared up this video conferencing apps’ downloads in ways that couldn’t have possibly been foreseen. It’s iOS app has been the most downloaded app for weeks.
As social distancing becomes the new norm, millions of people are using Zoom across all sectors, from work to leisure or virtual fitness sessions to online classes.
But is Zoom safe to use?
Two things are increasing with Zoom: Number of downloads and Security concerns
Reports about Zoom and its privacy concerns have flooded the internet since the past month. This app has been constantly criticised for a range of alarming issues. Let’s find out what all!
Have you been ‘Zoombombed’ yet?
Heard about this new phenomenon called — ‘Zoombombing’? It is a form of cyber harassment where uninvited participants in the meeting make racist remarks and/or share pornography on the screen. Hackers are able to find out the meeting codes or URLs that have been shared publicly or by simply guessing the nine-digit ID code.
After receiving multiple user complaints, the FBI also released an official news warning users about the possible hijacking threat.
In an effort to resolve this issue, Zoom has announced that they will soon use passwords and waiting rooms as default to enter into a meeting. In my opinion, this friction in the process of joining a virtual meeting will help users to fight zoombombing and make meetings relatively more secure.
On a funnier note, did you know actors like Kim Kardashian and Matthew McConaughey have been crashing student’s online classes. Fun, right? Has this happened to you yet? No? Me neither *sigh*
What does Zoom know about you?
Furthermore, this video conferencing platform falsely advertised itself to be using end-to-end encryption, a secure system intended to prevent exploitation of data by allowing only the users involved to be able to read the conversation. Zoom later addressed these allegations, by confirming that such a system was not currently available. They further apologised for the supposed “confusion” this may have led to.
Patrick Wardle, an ex-NSA (National Security Agency) hacker, said that a flaw in the app has left Mac users vulnerable to having their webcams and microphones hacked. Okay, this is scary now.
Is selling user sensitive data justifiable?
According to a report by Motherboard, Zoom was also found to send data of users of their iOS app to Facebook without their consent. Even if the user doesn’t have a Facebook account, they use this information for advertisements. This also led to a class action lawsuit being filed against the company.
In the wake of criticisms, Zoom has currently issued a 90-day freeze on any new app developments or updates and is currently concentrating to improve concerns revolving around privacy. In a move to acknowledge their mistake, the CEO of Zoom Eric Yuan, apologised for ‘falling short’ on privacy concerns and promised to tackle the shortcomings.
But is Zoom doing enough?
An apology from the CEO and a couple of app updates is sure a first step into solving a myriad of security concerns. But it sure isn’t enough. This might just be a step to deceive us of the actual bigger picture here. It definitely speaks heaps about the firm’s ethics.
This raises a bigger question, if it is fair for such firms to benefit out of selling user sensitive information and make money on our data?
In today’s age, data is power. We create tons of data everyday without even realising. What we search, the way we search, the pages we view, the websites we window shop on, are all essential data for big businesses like Facebook and Google. And the way these businesses have (mis)used data in the past is beyond my comprehension.
Because of the increased cases of government officials being affected with Coronavirus in the UK, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, self-isolation has compelled them to use Zoom. Thus, if the allegations on Zoom are true, do we realise the scope of information we are risking giving up?
For me, the only acceptable scenario for when a firm decides to collect information is if they are willing to create a better user experience and not to sell my personal data. Period.
Until next week :)
