Zoom’s latest update can help keep more meetings safe. The video conferencing software now hides meeting ID numbers in the title bar, which means that if you screenshot your meeting, your ID code will not be visible.
This has happened to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He took one screenshot of his external Zoom meeting and exposed the meeting ID to a sensitive government call. Keeping that ID number private is essential to protect yourself and other participants from unwanted visitors who tune into your discussions.
The other updates are relatively minor, including a built-in security menu button in the meeting host’s toolbar and moving the invite button.
Zoom said earlier this month that it is pinning a feature for 90 days while dealing with its privacy and security concerns. In particular, the company was scrutinized during the COVID-19 pandemic as a user base grew to 200 million people from just 10 million a few months ago.
Investigators have found multiple security and privacy issues, including one that forced Zoom rewrite parts of the privacy policy after it was discovered that users were susceptible to having their personal data used to target ads. The company also had to admit that it misled people the use of end-to-end encryption. Zoom bombing has been a particularly persistent problem, with people making random Zoom calls and sending offensive material to the participants. Federal prosecutors now say the law is considered a federal crime that could result in fines and potential prison terms.
Zoom’s updates are likely to continue to come as the company continues to troubleshoot its many security and privacy issues and as long as people continue to sign in to the service to keep in touch with friends and family.