Live data from Hacker News

Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

techcrunch.com

111–120 of 235 posts

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#111
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Offer a comparable alternative, then Here's a few: - https://meet.jit.si/ which you can also self host https://github.com/jitsi - https://bigbluebutton.org/ which you can also self host https://github.com/bigbluebutton I've found that they're especially useful, when integrated with Rocket.Chat https://rocket.chat/ which you can also self host https://github.com/RocketChat That way you have an experience that's a lo…

I think the OP meant options that are as "easy" as click on a link and join a meeting. I use BBB and Mumble but there are others I know who would never know how to set up their own instance or even what github is.

This is why multiple companies exist to sell you one-click hosted instances of these without lock-in.

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#112
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Offer a comparable alternative, then Here's a few: - https://meet.jit.si/ which you can also self host https://github.com/jitsi - https://bigbluebutton.org/ which you can also self host https://github.com/bigbluebutton I've found that they're especially useful, when integrated with Rocket.Chat https://rocket.chat/ which you can also self host https://github.com/RocketChat That way you have an experience that's a lo…

AdmiralAsshat's point was that all of the alternatives sucked because they were difficult or flakey to use: they weren't "comparable". Notably, the alternatives being mentioned as non-comparable weren't even trying to be local: they were remote service/ (which if you think Zoom is particularly bad, is still an improvement) built by giant companies that have tons of resources to have an army working on just these tool…

I use https://meet.jit.si/ daily and can confirm it is easier to use than Zoom or Hangouts.

No nag screens trying to get me to install desktop clients or trying to get me to create an account or give up personal information.

It just works.

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#113

I use Zoom for the simple reason that it provides end to end encryption and can seamlessly support large (50+) team meetings. Other than WebEx, which is more cost-prohibitive and has a clunkier UI/UX to boot, I believe there are no other video conferencing apps that can provide the service I'm looking for (which is 1. E2EE, and 2. support for 50+ attendees). _Is_ there anything else that can provide this, besides Zoo…

Telegram?

Telegram does not support E2EE for group chats.

It's also not a video conferencing platform.

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#114

Offer a comparable alternative, then. I spend half my day on meetings either internally or with clients, and every time I have to jump on a client meeting with Microsoft Teams/Google Hangouts/WebEx/GotoMeeting because their company bans Zoom, it's a recipe for a fruitless meeting. Someone will fumble the sharing controls; screens will take forever to present; at least one person's microphone will become inaudible, st…

> Offer a comparable alternative, then Here's a few: - https://meet.jit.si/ which you can also self host https://github.com/jitsi - https://bigbluebutton.org/ which you can also self host https://github.com/bigbluebutton I've found that they're especially useful, when integrated with Rocket.Chat https://rocket.chat/ which you can also self host https://github.com/RocketChat That way you have an experience that's a lo…

I like your line reasoning… but the problem with video conferencing isn’t really technical- IMO it’s all about the User experience (UX). Zoom by far beats the competition in this regard. It’s UI could be better but compared the mess of competitors it’s far more straightforward … just my opinion…

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#115

Offer a comparable alternative, then. I spend half my day on meetings either internally or with clients, and every time I have to jump on a client meeting with Microsoft Teams/Google Hangouts/WebEx/GotoMeeting because their company bans Zoom, it's a recipe for a fruitless meeting. Someone will fumble the sharing controls; screens will take forever to present; at least one person's microphone will become inaudible, st…

Teams is superior to Zoom... I don't understand why anyone uses Zoom, it's trash and compromised

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#116

Offer a comparable alternative, then. I spend half my day on meetings either internally or with clients, and every time I have to jump on a client meeting with Microsoft Teams/Google Hangouts/WebEx/GotoMeeting because their company bans Zoom, it's a recipe for a fruitless meeting. Someone will fumble the sharing controls; screens will take forever to present; at least one person's microphone will become inaudible, st…

Other big services sometimes solve this problem by creating a data center in EU for European customers (DataDog, 1password, etc.). I don’t know how feasible could that be in Zoom’s case technically, but if they see a threat of losing customers because of GDPR they might dedicate such resources.

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#117
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Offer a comparable alternative, then Here's a few: - https://meet.jit.si/ which you can also self host https://github.com/jitsi - https://bigbluebutton.org/ which you can also self host https://github.com/bigbluebutton I've found that they're especially useful, when integrated with Rocket.Chat https://rocket.chat/ which you can also self host https://github.com/RocketChat That way you have an experience that's a lo…

AdmiralAsshat's point was that all of the alternatives sucked because they were difficult or flakey to use: they weren't "comparable". Notably, the alternatives being mentioned as non-comparable weren't even trying to be local: they were remote service/ (which if you think Zoom is particularly bad, is still an improvement) built by giant companies that have tons of resources to have an army working on just these tool…

[deleted]

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#118
I recommend almost anything else at all other than Zoom.

As a security researcher that has reported a number of issues to Zoom, I can say without reservation they are one of the most security negligent companies I ever worked with.

It was evident after multiple calls with their team they didn't employ anyone strong technically in their US offices and had no idea how to translate security issues, even obvious ones like DNS takeover, to their (I assume China based) eng teams.

The software was designed without security as even a thought as many researchers have demonstrated. To this day the clients expect administrative access for no reason. I refuse to install them and tolerate the webapp when people insist on Zoom.

A friend and I compiled this list to consider.

https://gist.github.com/dacruz21/dd2480f195f5b48a9ab7af8b41c...

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#119
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Webex is so shockingly bad. Zoom, Teams, Slack, all seem to work fairly well, all have clients (and can run in the browser) Webex - which I have to use as part of a university course I'm doing on the side - requires you to run it in a browser on my OS, it has really awful options (like allowing the presenter to unmute people), half the claimed features just aren't available (virtual whiteboard, no major loss as every…

Must be your specific webex/connection settings/version then, we have it in our massive banking corps (90k+employees worldwide) and none of the things you describe are an issue. We have adopted it some 7 years ago. You don't need to run it in browser at all, there are desktop (and phone) clients for every major OS out there. This shows that you are really not familiar with it. Now it is still a crappy system, but for…

The 1000 slightly different versions of Webex that are all bundeled under the same brand are its biggest drawback.

My university uses it as well, and the normal latest version of Webex is on par with Zoom. However for some courses the lecutrers use e.g. Webex Training which is barely usable garbage (but is the only version that has built-in quiz features).

Re: Stop using Zoom, Hamburg’s data protection agency warns state government

#120
post #118

I recommend almost anything else at all other than Zoom. As a security researcher that has reported a number of issues to Zoom, I can say without reservation they are one of the most security negligent companies I ever worked with. It was evident after multiple calls with their team they didn't employ anyone strong technically in their US offices and had no idea how to translate security issues, even obvious ones lik…

Zoom has fixed the UX in this business, which is the one thing that matters most™, and which is why they will continue to be successful.

It's like a restaurant which has the absolute best food by a mile, so they remain in business despite the cockroaches and unfriendly waitstaff.

Most customers don't really care about privacy and security, they just want to pretend, and as long as they can easily pretend they're happy.

Post reply on HN