Zoom Compromises! Open End-to-end Encryption Service to Free Users

At the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in many countries around the world, and the trend of companies working from home accelerated the development of video conferencing software. Zoom is undoubtedly the most rapidly developing and controversial one among them.

Zoom said Wednesday that it will begin rolling out a beta version of the service in July.Provide end-to-end encryption for video calls for all users.Allow administrators to decide whether to accept requests to join the meeting.

As far as I know,Zoom's similar products, such as DingTalk, Tencent Meeting, and Feishu, have already achieved end-to-end encryption.

Zoom's 2020 is thrilling and a bit helpless

In 2020, video conferencing software Zoom has been on a roller coaster ride.

First, taking advantage of the epidemic, it started the automatic harvesting mode on a global scale, and the number of users increased 20 times in four months; then a vulnerability was exposed, and its security began to be questioned, and it was under pressure from the media, companies, and users.

Starting from mid to late March,Zoom leaked user privacy data, was banned by many companies, was sued by shareholders, and was hacked by multiple parties...

At the end of March,Zoom admitted that an important reason for the security vulnerability was that it did not use end-to-end encryption services, and standard browser data encryption could not cope with frequent attacks by network hackers.

April,Zoom hired Alex Stamos, former chief security officer of Facebook, at a high salary to promote major security upgrades of the software.

These news that have occupied the headlines of major technology media have become a huge rock weighing on Zoom's chest. How to balance user expansion and privacy protection has become Zoom's top priority at the moment.

From double standards to equal treatment, Zoom was forced to compromise

At the investor briefing on June 2, Zoom CEO Yuan Zheng said,End-to-end encryption services will be provided to paying users or businesses.

As for free users, since the registration information is only email, the identity information cannot be verified. Once it is found that some people use Zoom to engage in illegal activities, it is impossible to trace the source.Therefore, the company decided not to open the end-to-end service to free users.

As soon as the news came out, it caused disgust among the majority of users, and many people said that Zoom was blatantly "double standard".

Only half a month later, Zoom has compromised with free users and public opinion. In the test version to be released next month,In addition to email, free users can enjoy the same rights and protection as paid users by verifying their mobile phone number identity, and enjoy end-to-end encryption services in Zoom video conferences.

Privacy loopholes frequently appear, and it is not easy to win people's hearts

After Zoom's official Twitter account released this news, it received support and thanks from some users.But many users still have doubts about the security of Zoom.

The story of the boy who cried wolf makes it hard for people to continue to trust you

The identity verification channel is too limited. If I don’t use a smartphone, I won’t receive a verification code and won’t be able to enjoy Zoom’s encryption service.

Simply put, I just don't believe it.

Please fix the bug first.

Zoom has repeatedly failed in security and privacy issues, and it has a long way to go to rebuild user confidence.What do you think about Zoom opening its end-to-end encryption service to all users? Do you have confidence in Zoom?

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