Zoom may bring end-to-end encryption for paid subscribers, will also work with the FBI

Zoom says it plans to work with the FBI as well, a decision which might not go well with users.

Zoom won’t bring one of the most anticipated security features to its free customers, which also make up the large portion of its user base. (Zoom)

Zoom has just revealed its revenue stats and growth numbers in the April quarter of this year and thanks to the covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the company's income has soared by more than double. The company, which has been carving its way to the headlines constantly since past two months, is widely expected to introduce end-to-end encryption to its service, a lack of which triggered several to question the video conferencing app's user privacy and data. However, there seems to be a catch. The end-to-end encryption might not be there for all.

As per Nico Grant, a Blomberg technology journalist, Zoom won't bring one of the most anticipated security features to its free customers, which also make up the large portion of its user base. One would have to pay for the premium version to get it.

What's surprising is that Zoom says it plans to work with the FBI as well, a decision which might not go well with users who have been questioning the service's backdoor access by government authorities.

Grant tweeted this with Zoom CEO Yuan's statement. “Free users for sure we don't want to give that because we also want to work together with FBI, with local law enforcement in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose,” Yuan said.”

Zoom's CEO says he won't encrypt free calls so Zoom can work more with law enforcement:

“Free users for sure we don't want to give that because we also want to work together with FBI, with local law enforcement in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose,” Yuan said. $ZM

— Nico Grant (@NicoAGrant) June 3, 2020

As per a recent report, Zoom confirmed that the company had already transitioned to AES 256-bit GCM encryption for all users. However, Zoom's road to provide end-to-end encryption is not without challenges.

“An end-to-end model, which means no one but the participants and their devices can see and hear what is happening, would also have to exclude people who call in from a telephone line,” reported Reuters.