Let’s face it: Zoom calls are the new normal. End-to-end encryption is the holy grail for keeping these kinds of communications safe from prying hackers (and the FBI, of course). The company has pulled it off, but only for paying users, which begs the question of who deserves private conversations and who doesn’t.
Zoom, new end-to-end encryption and more CENSORSHIP
You’ll have to pay: Zoom announced in late May 2020 that it would add encryption to its calls for paying users. The Verge reports that CEO Eric Yuan said in an investment call on Tuesday, “Free users — we certainly don’t want to give that to [them], because we also want to work with the FBI and with local law enforcement, in case some people are using Zoom for bad purposes.”
Behind the scenes: Zoom has had a tough time on the security front, even as the company has seen a significant increase in usage due to the pandemic. The company has since fixed the Zoombombing problem, where unwanted people could jump into a Zoom call and say whatever inappropriate thing they wanted. It has also come under fire for several (also patched) security holes in the underlying code for Zoom’s Mac software. Adding end-to-end encryption makes people feel more secure that no one can hack.
Yes, but: Unfortunately, it’s not just the people who can afford a Zoom subscription who need end-to-end encryption. If you’re a nonprofit discussing how to protest, your organization could benefit from the feature. There are also shady reasons to use Zoom, as the CEO outlined in the investment call . However, bad actors can also pay for encryption to cover their tracks.
