Zoom has reversed its previous stance and now plans to offer end-to-end encryption to all users, both free and paying, as announced today. This represents a significant win for privacy among Zoom users. End-to-end encryption ensures that only the participants in a video call have access to the conversation, preventing third-party or platform access.
This change in policy comes following criticism of Zoom CEO Eric Yuan's statement in an earnings call earlier this month. He had indicated that end-to-end encryption would be withheld from non-paying users to facilitate cooperation with law enforcement.
"Free users, for sure, we don't want to give that [end-to-end encryption]," Yuan was reported as saying by The Next Web. "Because we also want to work together with FBI and local law enforcement, in case some people use Zoom for bad purposes."
Today's announcement reflects a shift in approach, though with a couple of important conditions. Zoom calls will not be end-to-end encrypted by default, and users will have to enable this added protection themselves, much like the process with Facebook's Messenger.
Additionally, free users will need to provide extra information before gaining access to end-to-end encryption. Zoom's blog post outlines the process, stating that "Free/Basic users seeking access to E2EE will participate in a one-time process that will prompt the user for additional pieces of information, such as verifying a phone number via a text message, similar to measures taken by leading companies to reduce the creation of abusive accounts."
It's worth noting that enabling end-to-end encryption will have some technical limitations, and certain features, such as dialing into a Zoom call from a traditional phone line, will not be supported for end-to-end encrypted calls.
Zoom expects to release an "early beta" version of end-to-end encryption in July of this year, giving users the option to enhance the security of their conversations. In the meantime, if privacy is a top concern, you might consider using a Zoom alternative like Signal or FaceTime, which offer end-to-end encryption by default. When it comes to your privacy, there's no need to delay.