Zoom temporarily removes Giphy integration with chat

Zoom has temporarily disabled Giphy from its chat features. Giphy is a popular GIF platform and is integrated with various messaging applications.

Zoom did not reveal the specific reason why it has removed Giphy from its chat section.

“To ensure strong privacy protection for users, we’ve temporarily removed the GIPHY integration in Zoom Chat. Once additional technical and security measures have been deployed, we will re-enable the feature,” said the company in a post.

The temporary deactivation is part of Zoom’s latest security updates and changes. The update includes improvements to screen sharing, consent for unmute, and multiple login restrictions, among others.

The move comes days after Facebook acquired Giphy for $400 million. The social networking company said that it will soon integrate Giphy into its platforms starting with Instagram.

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As The Verge points out, there’s no clarity on how Facebook’s acquisition will affect other platforms that have Giphy integration. Giphy, however, clarified that it does not have any embedded tracking. It also said that its API does not access users’ data.

“Giphy will continue to operate its library (including its global content collection), and we’re looking forward to investing further in its technology and relationships with content and API partners. People will still be able to upload GIFs; developers and API partners will continue to have the same access to Giphy’s APIs; and Giphy’s creative community will still be able to create great content,” Facebook said on the acquisition.

Zoom, like Facebook, is grappling with many privacy issues. The company has been criticised over the lack of adequate encryption and other security loopholes.

Zoom is now looking to address these with a slew of updates. The video conferencing platform recently acquired a security startup Keybase in a bid to implement the end-to-end encryption on its platform.