Is Zoom safe to use? Here’s what you need to know
LA TimesLamar Elementary School principal Erin Honeycutt sets up a Zoom class for first- through fifth-graders in Meridian, Miss., in March. Earlier this month, Google warned employees not to use Zoom’s desktop application on their work computers “due to privacy and security vulnerabilities.” SpaceX, the U.S. Senate and New York City’s school district have enacted similar restrictions. Some Zoom users were surprised to learn that if they use a tool that allows them to save the chat log from a call on their local devices — which many use as a way to document meeting minutes — that record will include private chats they’ve sent in addition to messages the group has sent. Zoom’s default setting allowed anyone to join video calls if they had the meeting ID, which is a number 9 to 11 digits long. Enable Zoom’s “Waiting Room” feature, which lets meeting hosts keep would-be participants in a digital queue until they approve them to join the session.