[BAA Comets] BAA webinar on C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)

[Nick James]

Hi everyone.

I'm pretty paranoid about IT stuff (I always keep a film container over 
my webcam for instance) and use a web browser with tracking turned off 
but there are always risks with any software. We have tried to minimise 
these as far as possible. The text below is from our IT guru Andy 
Wilson. I hope this addresses the reasonable concerns that people have.

Nick.



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We always treat security and privacy seriously. It is important to use 
any online video conferencing carefully. Other attendees may be able to 
hear or see things you don't intend.

Zoom has been receiving a lot of attention in the media, and this in 
part because it is very popular due to its ease of use, functionality, 
and multi-platform support. I reviewed 10 online conferencing systems 
before settling on Zoom as first choice with others at the BAA involved 
in this decision, with Google G Suite Meet as second choice. That said 
there is functionality within Zoom that makes some people uneasy. As the 
administrator I have control over some of this functionality. I have 
made settings changes and updated the BAA Data Protection and Security 
Policy with the following.

Overview
For online Council and Trustee meetings we use Zoom, and for webinars we 
use Zoom and YouTube (owned by Google). Both Zoom and Google are fully 
compliant with GDPR requirements.

Online meetings and webinars
We use Zoom webinars with YouTube for online member meetings. The 
following settings are used in these meetings and webinars:

-  File transfer is disabled to prevent the risk of any malicious code 
being passed between computers either intentionally or unintentionally.
-  Remote control during screenshare is disabled.
-  Participants are prevented from saving chats.
-  Attention tracking is turned off.
-  Blur snapshot on iOS task switcher is enabled.
-   Where a meeting or webinar is recorded the host must inform the 
attendees (NDJ NOTE - Recording webinars will be standard practice since 
they will be available on Youtube for later viewing).
-  Recordings must be saved to the host’s computer rather than the cloud.

For our webinars we have a Zoom webinar license. This is a little 
different to Zoom meetings and it means attendees cannot 'Zoombomb' the 
presentation.

If anyone is unhappy with Zoom, then they have the option to watch the 
feed on YouTube.

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On 01/04/2020 10:48, Shaun Taylor wrote:
> Good morning,
> 
> I am not a Guru but the BBC also produced this:
> 
> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52033217
> 
> In summary the experts said:
> 
> Use the latest version,
> Remember, as it is video conferencing, people can see you and what is behind you,
> If the meeting host is the only one that should be "broadcasting" their image then the host should set screen-sharing to ''host only",
> Meeting hosts should also disable "file transfer" to prevent any malware being shared.
> 
> As a note, the BAA is providing alternative YouTube or telephone options. Details are on the meeting web page https://britastro.org/node/21146
> 
> Kind Regards,
> 
> Shaun
>