Zoom is an online tool for hosting web chats and video conferencing.
The University does not have a licence for staff and students to use Zoom, and there are some serious considerations around the safety, security and encryption of Zoom meetings.
Zoom should not be used to conduct any University business.
Alternatives to Zoom
For safe and secure video conferencing, fully supported by the University’s IT Services, you can use:
Staying safe
Internet trolls are using Zoom’s screen-sharing feature to blast other viewers with upsetting videos from across the internet, from violence to pornography.
There have also been reports about the validity of Zoom’s security and encryption claims which mean that it is unsuitable for official University interactions. This applies whether you are using a personal paid-for account, or a free account.
We understand however, that you may still choose to use Zoom in your personal interactions, so while we can’t support the system, some guidelines have been shared below to make your online social occasions as safe as possible.
For Zoom privacy and security updates, please refer to the Privacy & Security for Zoom Video Communications Web Pages.
Precautions to take when using Zoom:
Here you will find updated guidance on how to make you video communications as safe and secure as possible.
- Change your screen sharing settings to ‘Host only’.
This will prevent trolls from accessing video calls.
Hosts can disable this option in their settings or the Admin controls of a call. To do this you can either change this in your pre-meeting Settings or in the in-call admin settings for Share Screen -> Advanced Sharing Settings.
Anyone publicly sharing Zoom links where they could be discovered by trolls, like on Twitter, should be sure to change screen-sharing to “Host-Only” before a call starts or as soon as they see the feature being abused.
- Disable “Join Before Host” so people can’t cause trouble before you arrive.
- Enable “Co-Host” so you can assign others to help moderate.
- Disable “File Transfer” so there’s no digital virus sharing.
- Disable “Allow Removed Participants to Rejoin” so expelled attendees can’t slip back in.
Last updated 16 April 2020
