Google Is Banning Employees From Using Zoom On Their Work Laptops

In the past few months, Zoom has enjoyed an explosion in popularity. However, this popularity put the app under a very bright spotlight in which several privacy and security related issues were discovered. This has led to some organizations, such as school districts, to ban the use of the app.

Now it looks like Google is also similarly banning the app from being used by its employees. According to a report from BuzzFeed News, it seems that Google has recently sent out emails to its employees working from home that they will no longer be able to use the video conferencing app on their work laptops.

In a statement provided to BuzzFeed News, Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesperson said, “We have long had a policy of not allowing employees to use unapproved apps for work that are outside of our corporate network. Recently, our security team informed employees using Zoom Desktop Client that it will no longer run on corporate computers as it does not meet our security standards for apps used by our employees. Employees who have been using Zoom to stay in touch with family and friends can continue to do so through a web browser or via mobile.”

While it might seem like Google is simply trying to stifle the competition, Zoom’s various privacy and security issues have been pretty well-documented, where vulnerabilities were discovered that allowed hackers to steal credentials. There was also an instance where Zoom calls were being routed to China, and also the issue of “Zoom-bombing” which allows strangers to drop in on meetings where they would disrupt them by playing pornography.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: Apps, Google, Privacy, Security, zoom