Zoom’s latest update hides meeting ID numbers from the title bar

This will stop others, who are not in the meeting, from dropping into the conversation

A student takes online classes at home, with his companions, using the Zoom APP during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in El Masnou, north of Barcelona, Spain April 2, 2020. REUTERS/Albert Gea (REUTERS)

Zoom's latest update is one step towards making meetings a little more secure on the app. The video-conferencing app has now started hiding meeting ID numbers from the title bar. This means, if you take a screenshot of your meeting, the ID code won't be in the shot.

Keeping the meeting ID private is essential as it protects all the people on the meeting from unwanted attendees dropping in on the discussions. This happened to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson who took a screenshot of his remote Zoom meeting and ended up exposing the meeting ID of a sensitive government call.

Zoom has brought in some other updates besides this one, and these include a built-in security menu button in the meeting host's toolbar and they have also moved the invite button. Zoom has earlier announced a 90-day feature freeze to deal with its security and privacy issues.

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Researchers have found multiple security and privacy issues plaguing the app, including one that forced Zoom to rewrite parts of its privacy policy after it was found that users were susceptible to their personal information being used to target ads.

The company also had to admit that it was misleading people about its use of end-to-end encryption.

"Zoombombing" has been another especially persistent issue, with people calling into random Zoom calls and airing offensive material. Federal prosecutors have now said that the act is considered a federal offense that could result in fines and possible imprisonment.

Zoom's updates will likely keep coming in as the company continues to address these issues. The company has also hired Facebook's ex-security chief Alex Stamos as a consultant.