Zoom Video Communications
video conferencing with breakout rooms and webinars, not recommended
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Company | Zoom Video Communications |
| URL | zoom.us |
| Pricing | recurring/mo— Free (40-min cap on group calls, 100 participants); Pro from
$14.16/user/mo (annual) / $16.99 (monthly), removes the time cap |
| License | closed |
| Hosting | cloud |
Not recommended. Cloud video conferencing with breakout rooms, webinars, and cloud recording. Included here for comparison against Proton Meet and Jitsi Meet, the alternatives we do recommend.
Usage Notes
Censorship at a foreign government's request: in June 2020 Zoom suspended US and Hong Kong activists' accounts for hosting Tiananmen Square vigils, acting on a Chinese government takedown demand -- including accounts entirely outside China. Zoom reinstated them only after Senate pressure and press coverage (see TechCrunch). Direct precedent for account suspension on political grounds.
Misrepresented encryption: the FTC settled with Zoom in November 2020 over false "end-to-end encryption" marketing -- Zoom held the decryption keys itself, including on servers in China, for most meetings, with no required user notice or redress (see FTC).
AI training terms: Zoom's 2023 ToS update was widely read as granting broad rights to train AI on customer audio/video/chat content. Zoom later clarified the language but offers no no-AI-training commitment like Proton Meet's.