Zoom Takes U-Turn, Promises End-to-End Encryption for Free Users
Zoom announced on Wednesday that they decided to provide end-to-end encryption for all customers, not only for the paid users.
The company announced end-to-end encryption for video and audio calls at the end of May, and it is only available for the paid users of its platform.
Now Zoom comes up with the decision after engaging with the civil liberties organizations, our CISO council, child safety advocates, encryption experts, government representatives, and their users.
“We are also pleased to share that we have identified a path forward that balances the legitimate right of all users to privacy and the safety of users on our platform.”
Zoom released an updated version of End-to-end encryption (E2EE) design, the new design can be found on GitHub.
“This will enable us to offer E2EE as an advanced add-on feature for all of our users around the globe – free and paid – while maintaining the ability to prevent and fight abuse on our platform.”
For Free/Basic users to avail E2EE phone number verification needs to be done, users need to provide phone and verify secret code via text message.
“We are confident that by implementing risk-based authentication, in combination with our current mix of tools — including our Report a User function — we can continue to prevent and fight abuse,” reads the report.
Starting from July 2020 the company planned to enable E2EE for free users. AES 256 GCM transport encryption will remain as the default encryption for all Zoom users.
E2EE will remain an optional feature because it limits some traditional functionalities “to include traditional PSTN phone lines or SIP/H.323 hardware conference room systems.”
Also, the account administrators have options to enable or disable E2EE at the account and group level.
This post Zoom Takes U-Turn, Promises End-to-End Encryption for Free Users originally appeared on GB Hackers.
