Zoom CEO confirms video calls by free users will not be encrypted to allow law enforcement easy access

We reported two days ago 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.

Now in their recent financial results conference call their CEO Eric Yuan confirmed the report, saying:

“Free users for sure we don’t want to give that because we also want to work together with FBI, with local law enforcement in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose.”

Given widespread accusations of uneven and biased law enforcement around the world leading riots in many city centres, the decision to side so strongly with law enforcement at present does come across as tone-deaf.

Zoom is currently being used widely by consumers, but due to privacy issues, regular Zoom users should probably look elsewhere, with platforms like Facetime and Google Duo offering a similar service but also full end to end encryption.

via Bloomberg