Barrington 220 Zoom Security Information

In Barrington 220 we are very aware of Zoom’s potential security issues, but after our customary security and safety research, we feel Zoom is both safe and beneficial for our staff and students to use during this time. We also took the extra step of purchasing a district license so we have Zoom tech support and reporting functionality. Barrington 220 is not using the free Zoom service with basic features offered as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

“Zoombombing” (an unwanted intrusion of an individual in a video conference causing disruption) can occur if the person hosting the meeting turns off Zoom’s security settings and/or posts the web address of the Zoom meeting in a public forum, such as social media or an open web page. Zoom has always had security features to prevent security problems, but if users turn them off, issues like the ones reported in the media can occur. Over the past couple of weeks, Zoom has also made some of their security settings default, meaning that they turn them on automatically (i.e., users need to intentionally turn them off if they choose to relax meeting security). Barrington 220’s Zoom training recommends the use of several security features.

One great example of Zoom’s recent enhanced security is the “Waiting Room” feature. Zoom turned this setting on by default starting this week for all users. The use of this feature is included in Barrington 220’s training and is recommended for long-term use.

It’s also VERY easy for Zoom meeting hosts (e.g., teachers) to click on any user and mute them, turn their video off, or remove them from a meeting. It takes one click and the participant can’t reverse the setting or return.

Please also note that Barrington 220 does not share student user information with Zoom. Only Barrington 220 staff who host Zoom meetings have Zoom accounts. Meeting participants (students) click a link to join the meeting. As teachers in the role of Zoom Hosts teach classes or work with students on Zoom, they generally do not share student information or other sensitive information.

Of course, if a parent is not comfortable with their child attending a Zoom meeting—or other online systems we use to connect students and teachers—the parent may decide that their child is not required to attend.

Finally, Zoom provides an excellent security document that is written in non-technical language that might be useful:
https://zoom.us/docs/doc/Zoom-Security-White-Paper.pdf