Since the start of the stay-at-home policy to address COVID-19 across the U.S., Zoom, a video conferencing app has shot up astronomically in usage. However, with the sudden rise in popularity, the company now faces a number of public relations challenges due to holes in its privacy infrastructure.
There have been revelations that flaws in the app allowed hackers to gain access to user systems. There is also been the issue of ‘Zoombombings’, a phenomenon in which trolls access Zoom meetings uninvited and spread hate speech and explicit content. With these privacy issues, some tech journalists are advising that zoom users turn to alternative video conferencing applications. This could of course spell disaster for Zoom which hasn’t even had a chance to soak up its newfound success.
So how is the company handling this crisis?
Well, rather well actually. For one, Zoom CEO Eric Yuan was quick to put out a statement via blog post, apologizing for the failures and acknowledging that the company had ‘fallen short’. Furthermore, Zoom’s communications team have stated that the company will be putting off efforts to develop any new features over the next three months, instead prioritizing shoring up privacy for the existing product. The company has also committed to putting out ‘transparency reports’ which will keep the public abreast of data or content requests coming from the government.
Zoom’s response so far has been proactive, timely, and has struck the right tone. The question is, will this be enough? While the company is already losing some customers, overall it still continues to grow in usage and doesn’t look set to slow down any time soon.
CONTROL, by Fiayo. 