Zoom App is regarded as one of the best video-conferencing apps. Arguably, it is one of the best applications to serve the purpose of holding 40 minute-long meetings with 100 people at a time (make that 24 hours and add a few more hundred participants depending on which plan the user buys), supported by features like scheduling and recording meetings, chatting, screen-sharing, and ease of joining a meeting.
However, are these perks enough to declare it ‘The Best Video-Conferencing Software of 2020’?
The increased usage of the app during this time of social distancing and self-quarantine has made it an easy target for cybercriminals who take pleasure in hacking into meetings, procuring confidential information, and producing disturbances not just limited to music or amusing noises, but also violent or pornographic videos, popularly known as ‘Zoom-bombing’.
Ironically, the very advantages of the app are what give leeway to these activities.
Several questions have been raised over the reliability of the app in terms of user privacy and data security. What makes the problem more alarming when it comes to children using Zoom for online classes or family meetings is the fact that these meetings are generally public, unprotected by a password to make it easier for the young children unfamiliar with technology, not to mention that the adults involved are likely to be inexperienced themselves.
In such situations, while it is embarrassing for adults, it is horrifying for children to be exposed to such forms of violence and indecency in their young years. The effects of exposure to recorded crimes or acts of sex affect the brain negatively, impacting children to a higher degree due to their curious and vulnerable nature. Another major drawback of Zoom is that it grants the reporting feature only when a user upgrades to the ‘Pro’ version of the application. This selective feature of such a fundamental feature is malicious.
Among major security issues like the absence of end-to-end encryption and user-unfriendly privacy policy, ‘Zoom-bombing’ remains one of the most concerning one. Some free alternatives to Zoom are:
- Google Meet (previously Hangouts)
- Cisco Webex Meetings
- Microsoft Teams
- TeamViewer
It is high time schools switched over to a safer platform for the sake of their students’ privacy and security.