Protecting your privacy during COVID-19

By the ILA Best Practices Committee

When the novel coronavirus pandemic led to Illinois’ stay-at-home order in mid-March, libraries closed and library workers began working from home. This led to a sudden uptick in the use of online meeting software, the most popular of which is Zoom.

Unfortunately, Zoom comes with many privacy issues from Zoombombing to a lack of end-to-end encryption, which allows data to move between devices in a form that is unreadable to anyone other than the recipients. In early April, Zoom announced a 90 day feature freeze to fix privacy and security issues, although some, including end-to-end encryption, will only be available to paying customers.

Below are some links to help you protect your privacy during the pandemic, both on Zoom and online more generally. If you’re concerned enough about Zoom’s security to think about switching, check out this article from the Verge that rounds up the best alternatives.

Make your Zoom meetings more secure

• Harden Your Zoom Settings to Protect Your Privacy and Avoid Trolls (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
• What You Should Know About Online Tools During the COVID-19 Crisis (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
• Setting updates for free accounts and single Pro users (Zoom)
• How to Keep Uninvited Guests Out of Your Zoom Event (Zoom)

Privacy and online security during COVID-19

• COVID-19 Security Resource Library – Stay Safe Online
  A compilation of tips and recommendations from the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and its partners on ways to stay safe online, as well as how to avoid cyber threats and scams during this pandemic.
• COVID-19 Archives
  Headlines collected by ALA for the Choose Privacy Everyday blog. The blog includes training, presentations, guidelines, and checklists specifically for libraries.
• Protecting Privacy In A Pandemic: A Resource Guide
  This resource guide supplements “Protecting Privacy During a Pandemic,” a town hall hosted by the ALA’s IFC Privacy Subcommittee on May 8, 2020. The recorded session can be viewed online on OIF’s YouTube channel.
• Business in the time of COVID-19: US Cybersecurity and Privacy Issues for You to Consider (National Law Review)
• COVID-19 Privacy & Data Protection Resources (Future of Privacy Forum)
• Privacy and Pandemics (Future of Privacy Forum)