Zoom Finally Has End-to-End Encryption. Here's How to Use It

Zoom has gone from startup to verb in record time, by now the de facto video call service for work-from-home meetings and cross-country happy hours alike. Features like cloud recording, live transcription, breakout rooms, polling, one-on-one chat, and meeting reactions aren’t compatible with end-to-end encryption, and no one can join the meeting before the host does. But while Zoom has relented on its previous stipulation that only paying customers could access end-to-end encryption, free accounts still need a valid phone number and billing option to take advantage, which Zoom has said helps prevent abuse of the feature. With all of that out of the way, here’s how to actually use Zoom’s end-to-end encryption, if it’s right for you. Again, what Zoom calls Enhanced Encryption is fine in most cases—you’ll still be able to make specific calls end-to-end encrypted—but go with End-to-end Encryption if you’re especially scared of snoops.