Zoom has quickly become a go-to solution for video communication during the COVID-19 crisis. Following a recent statement by the company, its popularity may take a serious hit.
Using Zoom can be done without paying for a subscription, albeit paid tiers are also available.
A Potentially Wrong Decision by Zoom
It now appears that the company will focus most of its attention to paying customers, at least where encrypted communication is concerned.
Free users will not be given access to end-to-end encryption, which is a surprising turn of events.
According to Zoom, they will take this route to ensure law enforcement agents can access these calls and information if necessary.
Instead, only professional customers – businesses, schools, and regular paying customers – will be given access to this ‘privilege”.
For Zoom, it is crucial that they can work together with the FBI and local law enforcement.
It appears that this decision is a direct result of a new bill in US Congress.
That bill aims to penalize those using encryption on social media, including service providers.
From a user point of view, this is a good time to determine whether paying for Zoom is worth it.
After all, the company wants to work with law enforcement, yet it is unclear how this affects paying customers, if at all.
