{"id":7788,"date":"2021-02-09T19:41:24","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T15:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krisp.ai\/blog\/?p=7788"},"modified":"2025-01-29T17:13:03","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T13:13:03","slug":"online-meeting-privacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krisp.ai\/blog\/online-meeting-privacy\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Online Meeting Privacy Tips to Avoid \u201cZoombombing\u201d and Protect Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

By now, you\u2019ve likely heard horror stories about the rampant <\/span>\u201cZoombombing\u201d<\/span><\/a> that happened at the start of the pandemic, where intruders crashed Zoom meetings and broadcast inappropriate content to attendees.<\/span><\/p>\n

When preparing for <\/span>online meetings<\/span><\/a>, most of us think about agendas and lighting, but we really need to think about privacy too. Meetings, by their very nature, contain vital and private information that you don\u2019t want just anyone to see. Thankfully, there are steps you can take to ensure your team and data are protected.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are 15 ways you can ensure you don\u2019t become the next victim of a Zoombombing\u2014as well as keep your data safe from prying eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

15 Tips to Protect Your Online Meeting Privacy<\/span><\/h2>\n

1. If you\u2019re joining the online meeting from home or a public space, wear a headset and ensure no unauthorized people can overhear you.<\/span><\/h3>\n
\"gotomeeting<\/p>\n

Image source: gotomeeting.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Don\u2019t be so concerned about anonymous Internet intruders that you overlook the people inside your own home. Whether they mean to or not, your spouse, children, or roommates might overhear your <\/span>online meeting<\/span><\/a> conversations that contain protected information.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is especially true if you work in sectors like healthcare or financial services, where revealing certain protected information (even unwittingly) to outsiders might have legal consequences.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>To prevent eavesdropping, be sure to <\/span>wear a headset<\/span><\/a> or earphones when you take calls. Additionally, make sure you are in a location where the people who live with you can\u2019t see your computer screen or overhear what you\u2019re talking about during work meetings.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Secure your conferencing app with a strong password.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Don\u2019t choose a password that\u2019s easy for someone to guess\u2014that\u2019s an easy way to get hacked. Make sure the password to your Skype, Zoom, Teams, or other conferencing app is strong.<\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Secure your meetings with a password too.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Yes, passwords seem like one extra, inconvenient step to gaining access to a meeting\u2014and that\u2019s precisely the point. Add as many steps as possible to ensure only the right people get in. If your web conferencing app has a password-protected meetings feature, use it.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you fail to secure your online meeting with a password, anyone who manages to get their hands on the meeting link will be able to get in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, it\u2019s a good idea to change the password for each meeting, just in case one password gets compromised.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Safeguard your Personal Meeting ID.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Something I didn\u2019t even understand until recently: On Zoom, your Personal Meeting ID is essentially an ongoing meeting. If someone has your Personal Meeting ID, they can enter your meeting <\/span>anytime<\/span><\/i>. This is true for some other web conferencing apps, too, such as BlueJeans and GoToMeeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most famous example of this faux pas is when UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared a <\/span>screenshot on Twitter<\/span><\/a> of a Zoom meeting in which his Personal Meeting ID was revealed. Thankfully, even if people did try to crash Johnson\u2019s Zoom meeting, they wouldn\u2019t have succeeded because his team had <\/span>established a password<\/span><\/a>. (See why passwords are crucial?)<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Use a unique meeting link each time.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Your Personal Meeting ID should only be shared with people whom you trust and meet with regularly. Otherwise, your safest option is to generate a unique link for each meeting and only share it with invitees.<\/span><\/p>\n

That way, if an old meeting link falls into the wrong hands a few days later, you don\u2019t have to worry because you won\u2019t be using it again.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Enable a virtual waiting room or lobby where you can screen people before admitting them to the meeting.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Some video conferencing apps have a feature that allows you to screen people before admitting them to the meeting. In Zoom, for example, this is called a \u201cwaiting room,\u201d and in Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business, it\u2019s a \u201clobby.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The great thing about these virtual rooms is that you can screen each person before allowing them to enter your meeting, and thus, keep any intruders out.<\/span><\/p>\n

The best description I\u2019ve found is from Zoom, describing its waiting room feature in a <\/span>blog post<\/span><\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s almost like the velvet rope outside a nightclub, with you as the bouncer carefully monitoring who gets let in.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some web conferencing apps with a waiting room or lobby feature include:<\/span><\/p>\n