FTC Provides Privacy and Data Security Tips for Videoconferencing

By Daniel Waltz, Sadia Mirza & Stephen C. Piepgrass on April 17, 2020POSTED IN ALL ENTRIES, COVID-19, CYBER SECURITY, INFORMATION GOVERNANCE & PRIVACY, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (FTC)

The Federal Trade Commission released guidance for increasing privacy and data security while videoconferencing over the internet. The FTC is recommending that video conference users take the following steps:

1. Make sure that only those individuals who were invited to the meeting are in attendance by securing the meeting by password or providing unique meeting and/or user ID numbers. These settings may not be the default – be sure to check the settings of the service every time you set up a meeting. Despite the name, “zoombombing” is not unique to Zoom. The risk of uninvited people showing up on video conferences exists across all platforms. For additional information specific to Zoom, see Troutman Sanders’s article published in Bloomberg Law, “To Zoom or Not to Zoom – Privacy and Cybersecurity Challenges.”
2. Look for other settings that limit access to the meetings, such as host approval of all attendees or locking the meeting once all attendees have arrived.
3. Be aware that your video camera and microphone may be on as soon as you join the meeting.
4. Be alert to whether the meeting is being recorded and sensitive to the fact that it may be recorded without your knowledge.
5. Be careful about sharing your screen and do not have anything open (documents, chats, browser windows, email, etc.) that you do not want others to see.
6. Do not…

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