If you are not paying, Zoom reserves the right to drop in on your meetings.

If you were planning a romantic “private” meetup via Zoom, it’s probably a better idea to move your illicit liaison to WhatsApp or Facetime.

Reuters reports that Zoom will not be supporting end-to-end encryption for non-paying customers, saying the company reserved the right to observe meetings for enforcement purposes.

Full encryption for every meeting would leave Zoom’s trust and safety team unable to add itself as a participant in gatherings to tackle abuse in real time, said Alex Stamo, Zoom’s security consultant.

Zoom is planning to offer end to end encryption to paying customers, however, with Jon Callas, a technology fellow of the American Civil Liberties Union, saying “Charging money for end-to-end encryption is a way to get rid of the riff-raff.”

“The CEO is looking at different arguments, “said Stamos”. “The current plan is paid customers plus enterprise accounts where the company knows who they are.”

Zoom rose to prominence due to its ease of use, but rivals have responded rapidly, offering equivalent solutions for free with better security. With sensitive conversations taking place both in consumer and business settings, it remains to be seen if Zoom’s stance will change the public’s attitude to the service and blunt their meteoric growth.

via Neowin