As the world has flocked to online tools to replace
in-person meetings, I’ve been asked a few times about using Zoom. Zoom is
a VERY popular tool right now, with over 200 million people joining Zoom
meetings every day. However, some very prominent concerns with Zoom have
appeared in the media. We’ve learned recently of Zoombombing
of open meetings, some Zoom
traffic being sent to China, Zoom
recordings being found on open servers, and more. Yesterday, Zoom’s
CEO apologized publicly for security concerns. Zoom has been banned from
use by employees of Google, Tesla, NASA, the Taiwanese government, and been
strongly discouraged by the New York school system.
I thought I’d clarify the policy on Zoom from the Technology
& Innovation department.
(If organizers don’t know, feel free to send them these good
recommendations on keeping
your Zoom meeting secure.)
What about mediations? Mediations on Zoom have been
quite popular because of their ability to move people in and out of the waiting
room. Asa and I are testing some alternatives today to Zoom for
mediations, so please reach out if you regularly host mediations. And
again, if someone else is organizing the mediation, you might not have a choice
about using Zoom – make sure you speak to the organizer in advance to make sure
the Zoom mediation is being kept secure.
While this email is specific to Zoom, this also goes for
other video streaming platforms out there. You should NOT be using other
videoconferencing tools in Facebook, Google Hangouts, etc. to conduct official
Gravis Law business.