Zoom to roll out end-to-end encryption servers for free, paid users

Users of Zoom for both free and paid versions will have access to a new end-to-end encryption (E2EE) service that the video-conferencing app is rolling out in a week.

This new E2EE format will be available both for those who join and those who host sessions with up to 200 participants as a technical preview, which means Zoom will seek feedback from users in the first 30 days of the feature's launch.

"We’re pleased to roll out Phase 1 of 4 of our E2EE offering, which provides robust protections to help prevent the interception of decryption keys that could be used to monitor meeting content," Max Krohn, Head of Security Engineering said in a blog post.

How will you be able to access E2EE?

All participants in the call must enable E2EE. Once that is done, the host can enable the setting for E2EE at the account, group, and user level and can be locked at the account or group level.

To access E2EE, all meeting participants must join from the Zoom desktop client, mobile app, or Zoom Rooms in Phase 1.

Participants can check whether the call is E2EE enabled by looking for a green shield logo in the upper left corner of their meeting screen with a padlock in the middle to indicate their meeting is using E2EE. This is similar to Zoom's existing GCM encryption symbol, except in this case the tick-mark is replaced with a padlock.

The end-to-end encryption feature has certain limitations when it comes to compatibility with other functions of Zoom. "Enabling this version of Zoom's E2EE in your meetings disables certain features, including joining before host, cloud recording, streaming, live transcription, Breakout Rooms, polling, 1:1 private chat, and meeting reactions," CEO of Zoom, Eric S. Yuan said in a blogpost.

"We plan to roll out better identity management and E2EE SSO integration as part of Phase 2, which is tentatively roadmapped for 2021", Krohn said.