Zoom Team Left Stunned After App Included In List Of Red-Flagged Chinese Apps

Zoom maintains that it is a US-based company, however, it has been included in the list of red-flagged Chinese apps in India in certain media reports.

New Delhi: Video conferencing platform Zoom said on Friday that it is a US-based company and has nothing to do with China after media reports clubbed its name with a bunch of Chinese apps that were reportedly red-flagged by the Indian intelligence agencies over safety and privacy issues of users.  The popularity of San Jose (California)-based Zoom skyrocketed following the Covid-19 restriction across the world forced a large section of the global population to stay indoors. "There has been significant misinformation and blatant inaccuracies circulating about Zoom with regards to China from various channels," a Zoom spokesperson said in a statement. "Zoom is a US company, publicly traded on the NASDAQ, founded and headquartered in San Jose, California. In India, we've been proud to help businesses, government agencies, communities, school teachers, and other users stay connected during this global health crisis," the spokesperson added. Although Zoom is not a Chinese company, it did come under the scanner of Indian government agencies for its security features, promoting the Cyber Coordination Centre (CyCord), under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), issuing an advisory on the secure use of the platform by private individuals. This advisory, issued in April, stated that the platform was not for use by government officers/officials for official purposes. Facing criticism for security features, Zoom has implemented new security controls designed to protect users' personal data, as well as features to help Zoom users protect the security of their meetings. In a blog post this week, Zoom said it will be providing end-to-end encryption to all users as an advanced feature at no additional charge. It plans to roll out an early beta of the end-to-end encryption feature from next month.