The use of video-conferencing tool called Zoom has been suspended in Singapore, which was being used by teachers. In the first week of the lockdown imposed due to coronavirus, there were some ‘very serious incidents’ that prompted the suspension. The use of Zoom increased because of the lockdown as schools were shut and home-based learning was adopted. According to media reports, the incidents included obscene images appearing on the screens and lewd comments being made by male strangers while a geography lesson was being streamed with teenage girls.
Coronavirus is wreaking havoc in many parts of the world with the number of cases exceeding 1,700,000 and death toll surging past 100,000. The United States is the worst hit country so far, where the number of cases has surpassed 500,000 and the death toll has now reached almost 19,000. However, on Friday Donald Trump announced that a special council would be assembled for considering when it would be safe to lift the widespread lockdown across the United States to allow the economy to start moving. He referred to it as the ‘biggest decision’ he has ever made and said that he would draw on medical and business expertise to help him reach a verdict.
During the shutdown, Zoom’s video technology has proven to be immensely popular. However, it has faced privacy and safety concerns over its conferencing app. There were security concerns about the use of the app by British cabinet ministers as well as U.S. senators. Therefore, the decision of Singapore schools didn’t come off as a big surprise. On Friday, Aaron Loh, who is part of the education ministry technology division in Singapore, said that the incidents were quite serious. He didn’t provide any details about the said incidents. He added that both of the breaches were currently being investigated by the ministry of education and a police report would be lodged, if required.
He stated that for security reasons, the use of Zoom would be suspended by the teachers until the issues are resolved. He also said that the ministry would advise teachers regarding security protocols to be followed. These include not sharing the meeting link with anyone other than the students in the class and using secure log-ins. Janine Pelosi, the chief marketing officer at Zoom said that they were deeply upset to hear about the incidents. She added that they were committed to providing educators with the resources and tools they need on a secure platform.
She disclosed that some changes had been made to settings for education users. Virtual waiting rooms have been enabled and only hosts will be able to share their screens. The use of Zoom has already been stopped in Germany and Taiwan and the desktop version of the tool has also been banned by Google from corporate laptops. A class-action lawsuit has also been filed. A 90-day plan has been launched by Zoom for addressing the concerns and to bolster security and privacy measures. They have also hired Alex Stamos, former security chief at Facebook, to help them out.
You must be logged in to post a comment.