Zoom Privacy and Security

To maintain the integrity of your Zoom meeting or webinar, you may wish take advantage of several features offered by Zoom at IAS. The information below describes steps that you can take to ensure the security of your Zoom meetings and for preventing uninvited guests from joining and participating in your meetings.

To activate your Zoom Basic account, please visit theias.zoom.us and click 'Sign In' (located next to Configure your account).  Log in using your IAS log in credenetials.  You Basic account will be activated.

THINGS TO CONSIDER DOING BEFORE YOUR ZOOM MEETING TAKES PLACE

Before your Zoom meeting begins, consider the options outlined below to reduce the likelihood of uninvited or disruptive participants from joining your meeting.

In order to maintain effective security, the Zoom software must be updated frequently.  Please visit the following Zoom page to learn more about how to update your Zoom installation.

To join a Zoom meeting, your invited participants are required to provide a 9- or 10-digit unique meeting ID number to join the meeting. If one of your previous Zoom meetings was compromised, a similar disruption could happen again if you use the same meeting ID. Consider using a unique Zoom meeting ID instead.  Although they are less convenient than using a recurring meeting ID or your personal Zoom room, unique meeting IDs make it harder for previous disruptive or uninvited participants to join future meetings.  If you are posting about a meeting on a public resource (for example, a departmental website, social media platform, wtc.), we recommend generating a unique meeting ID.  To do so:

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Schedule a New Meeting.
  3. Provide all details for your meeting.
  4. Do not select Recurring meeting, even if your meeting is part of a series.
  5. Click on the Save button. The page will reload, and the unique meeting ID should be listed to the right of Meeting ID.

[Note:  If your meeting is part of a series of meetings, then you will need to schedule a new meeting for each session. You cannot change an existing meeting's ID.]

You can configure your Zoom meeting so that participants can't attend it unless they have registered.  Participants can register for Zoom meetings through a custom URL that Zoom generates for you. To register, participants must provide their first name, last name, and email address. Participants won't be able to join your Zoom meeting unless their name and email address matches the information they initially provided when registering.

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click the name of the desired Zoom meeting.
  3. Click on the Edit this meeting button.
  4. Scroll to the Registration section.
  5. Click on the box to the left of Required.
  6. Click on the Save button.  The page will then refresh.
  7. In the Invite Attendees section, you should see a registration URL.  Click on Copy the invitation.  In the resulting window, select Copy Meeting Invitation. You can then paste the meeting information into an email message to you invited participants.
  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click the name of the desired Zoom meeting.
  3. Click on the Edit this meeting button.
  4. Click on the box to the left of Require meeting password. In the resulting text field, enter the desired password.

    [Note:When creating meeting passwords, keep in mind that some videoconferencing equipment can only enter numbers. Since some meeting participants might connect from videoconferencing hardware instead of a computer or mobile device, set a numerical password to ensure that they can connect without issue.]
     
  5. Click on the Save button.

You can require all participants to be logged into their Zoom accounts before accessing your Zoom meeting room. While this setting does not discriminate between institutions or organizations providing Zoom accounts, this is an additional precaution you can take to restrict participant access to your Zoom meeting.

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Meetings.
  3. Click on Upcoming Meetings.
  4. Select the desired meeting.
  5. Click on the Edit this Meeting button.
  6. Check the box to the left of Only authenticated users can join. After you check the box, Sign into Zoom will appear to the right of Only authenticated users can join.
  7. Click on the Save button.

This prevents Zoom meeting partificants from joining a meeting before you.  When enabled, Zoom meeting participants will see a message that says, “The meeting is waiting for the host to join.”

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. Click on the Meetings tab.
  4. Scroll down to Join before host.
  5. Click on the toggle button to the right of Join before host to enable/disable this setting.

 

The Zoom waiting room allows the host or co-host to review who is attempting to join the meeting before it starts.  The host or co-host can admit participants individually or all at once.  This feature is enabled by default.

You can configure your Zoom meeting room so that every participant's video feed is turned off  when first joining. However, unless you have manually disabled the user's video feed, these participants can enable their video feed once they've joined. To do this:

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Meetings.
  3. Click on the name of the desired Zoom meeting.
  4. Click on the Edit this meeting button.
  5. Scroll to the Video section.
  6. To the right of Participant, click on off.

You can configure your Zoom meeting room so that every participant's audio feed is disabled when they first enter. However, unless you have manually disabled the user's audio feed, these participants can enable their audio feed once they've joined.

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Meetings.
  3. Click the name of the desired Zoom meeting.
  4. Click on the Edit this meeting button.
  5. Click on the box to the left of Mute participants upon entry.
  6. Click on the Save button.

To prevent unnecessary screen sharing disruptions during a Zoom meeting, the Zoom meeting host can specify that they are the only participant that can share their screen during the meeting. 

To disable screen sharing for everyone:

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. Click on the Meetings tab.
  4. Scroll down to Screen sharing option and click on the toggle to the right of it to disable/enable this feature.

To only allow the Zoom meeting host to share their screen during the meeting:

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. Click on the Meetings tab.
  4. Scroll down to Screen sharing option.
  5. Underneath Who can share, select Host only.
  6. Click on the Save button.

Zoom offers in-meeting chat for everyone or individual attendees can message each other privately.  The Zoom meeting host can turn off chat for all of their meetings from their online Zoom profile Settings.  Doing so will prevent the host, co-hosts, and attendees from chatting for any meetings scheduled by the Zoom host.  The Chat option will no longer appear as an option in the Meeting Controls.

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. Click on the toggle to the right of Chat to disable/enable the in-meeting chat feature.
  4. Click on the Turn off button.

The Zoom meeting host can also disable the Private Chat feature, which prevents attendees from sending messages to other attendees instead of the entire group.

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. Click on the toggle to the right of Prvate Chat to disable/enable the in-meeting private chat feature.
  4. Click on the Turn off button.

The Zoom in-meeting file transfer feature allows meeting attendees to share files through the in-meeting chat feature.  Toggle this off to keep the chat from getting bombarded with unsolicited pics, GIFs, memes, and other content.

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. Click on the Meeting tab.
  4. Scroll down to the File Transfer option and click on the toggle to disable/enable this feature.

The Zoom meeting host and the meeting attendees can doodle and mark up content together using annotations during screen share. You can disable the annotation feature in your Zoom meeting settings to prevent people from writing all over the screens.

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. Click on the Meeting tab.
  4. Scroll down to the Annotation option and click on the toggle to disable/enable this feature.

Zoom allows the host, co-host or any other participant in a meeting or webinar to record the session and export it as a video file once the session is done.  This is certain a valueable feature, especially for anyone that was not able to attend the meeting or webinar; however, it also presents a security issue if the video recording ends up in the wrong hands.  To reduce the possible dangers from using the recording tool, the host can disable the participants' ability to use this tool.

  1. Log into Zoom with your IAS credentials.
  2. Click on Settings.
  3. Click on the Recording tab.
  4. Click on the toggle to the right of Allow hosts and participants to record the meeting to a local file to enable/disable this feature.

[Note:  Even with this setting disabled, any participant can record a Zoom meeting or webinar using external software for recording the screen.  Please be mindful of your actions and words.]

 

If you share your Zoom meeting link on social media or another public location (e.g. website, poster, etc.), anyone with the link can join your meeting.  Below are some tips you can use to help when needing a public meeting space:

  • Avoid using your Personal Meeting ID (PMI) to host public events.
    Your PMI is essentially one continuous meeting and people can pop in and out all the time. Learn about meeting IDs.
     
  • Familiarize yourself with Zoom’s settings and features.
    Understand how to protect your virtual space when you need to.

THINGS YOU CAN DO DURING YOUR ZOOM MEETING

If your Zoom meeting is underway and you need to handle a disruption (for example, a participant is interrupting the session), there are several ways you can resolve the issue.

Depending on the size of your Zoom meeting, it may be difficult for you to both run your meeting and moderate your participants.  Designating a second host can help with muting/unmuting participants, help monitor the chat for questions and problems, and remove any disruptive particiants from the meeting.  To delegate meeting host privileges to an additional person:

  1. In the Zoom meeting room window, click on Manage Participants.  A tab called Participants should appear on the right.
  2. Hover over the name of the desired co-host and select More.
  3. Click on the Make Co-Host button.

To mute a participant:

  1. In the Zoom meeting room window, click on Manage Participants. A tab called Participants should appear on the right.
  2. Hover over the name of the desired participant and select More.
  3. Click on Mute.

To disable a participant's video feed:

  1. In the Zoom meeting room window, click on Manage Participants. A tab called Participants should appear on the right.
  2. Hover over the name of the desired participant and select More.
  3. Click on Stop Video.

To remove a participant from the meeting:

  1. In the Zoom meeting room window, click on Manage Participants. A tab called Participants should appear on the right.
  2. Hover over the name of the desired participant and select More.
  3. Click on Remove.

After all invited participants have entered the Zoom meeting, the host or co-host can lock meeting.  Once a Zoom meeting is locked, no one else can join. To lock your meeting:

  1. In the Zoom meeting room window, click on Manage Participants.  A tab called Participants should appear on the right.
  2. Click on More in the bottom right.
  3. Click on Lock Meeting.

If you have questions or need guidance on optimizing these settings, please contact the appropriate support group below:

Information Technology Group
The Information Technology Group provides support to School of Historical Studies, School of Social Science, Administration and programs under the Director's Office.

Mathematics Computing Group
Computing support for the School of Mathematics is provided by the Mathematics Computing Department.

Natural Sciences Computing Group
Computing support for the School of Natural Sciences is provided by the School of Natural Sciences Computing Department.

Media Technology Services (A/V)
The Media Technology Services group provides audio-visual services to the campus.

    Thanks to the University of Texas, Indiana University, and UC Berkeley for content suggestions and/or ideas.