Security News
Concerns over privacy and security raise important questions: is Zoom safe, and is it even GDPR compliant? In our current example, we do not know whether the host asked for a copy to be kept by Zoom for future reference, or whether Zoom kept a copy by default.
What information is being collected online? Who's collecting it? Who should be held responsible for protecting our privacy? And how do we better protect it? A survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of NortonLifeLock delved into those questions and more. The survey of more than 10,000 adults in the US and nine other countries found that more than two-thirds are more alarmed than ever about their online privacy.
Collaboration platform Zoom has seen usage skyrocket since the COVID-19 pandemic forced hundreds of thousands of workers to begin telecommuting. Zoom has been the subject of privacy concerns before; the video conferencing software experienced a webcam hacking scandal in 2019 and a bug that allowed uninvited users to potentially join meetings they hadn't been invited to, according to CNET. Here are a few things to keep in mind when using Zoom, especially for work-related functions.
Earlier this month, articles on Mashable, EFF, Forbes, and Consumer Reports, among others, heavily criticized Zoom for not ensuring that users' privacy is well protected, which encouraged web veteran Doc Searls to have a look into the matter as well. EFF too pointed out that Zoom hosts could monitor attendees' activity while screen-sharing, could see whether a participant has the Zoom window in focus or not, and that administrators can view "How, when, and where users are using Zoom," and can access the contents of recorded calls, including "Video, audio, transcript, and chat files."
One in four respondents to a Threatpost reader poll said they were okay with sacrificing a portion of their personal privacy in exchange for some form of cellphone tracking that could - in theory - reduce coronavirus infection rates and save lives. When asked, "For coronavirus tracking, do you think public-health benefits outweigh privacy risks?" approximately 27 percent voted "Yes - Privacy and data-protection laws should not get in the way of saving lives." Sixty-nine percent said, "No - A pandemic doesn't give authorities the right to strip citizens of their privacy rights."
As more and more people remain at home and work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of them have been forced to use one or many video and audio conferencing applications out of necessity. One particular remote conferencing solution is quickly becoming the solution of choice for many users worldwide: Zoom.
So in this sense, I think that any argument for using surveillance to keep track of covid-19 infections or to provide basic security isn't credible and so can't be simply trusted. If anyone now were to claim that they think they can stop an outbreak by means of surveillance, I think such might as well be deceptive, but also very wrong if the surveillance part isn't really neccessary.
Digital surveillance and smartphone technology may prove helpful in containing the coronavirus pandemic - but some activists fear this could mean lasting harm to privacy and digital rights. These moves have prompted soul-searching by privacy activists who acknowledge the need for technology to save lives while fretting over the potential for abuse.
The majority of primary campaign websites of United States presidential candidates run code that can pose security and privacy risks to consumers, The Media Trust has discovered. The security firm has monitored 11 websites during September and December 2019, and discovered that 81% of them execute code from third-party entities unmanaged by the candidate teams.
As the coronavirus pandemic accelerates, authorities worldwide are plotting ways to flatten the curve of infection rates using potentially privacy-busting measures such as phone tracking, facial recognition and other tech. In this Threatpost poll, we want your take on whether sacrificing personal privacy for the public good is worth it.