Recommended Zoom Settings for Security

Mark Racine Updated by Mark Racine

When reporting a Zoom incident, please take a moment to verify that you have set the following settings in your Zoom account. These settings will greatly reduce the likelihood of a Zoom interruption and ensure that the person(s) responsible for a Zoom intrusion can be identified.

This article will take you through various Zoom settings that can help to safeguard your virtual classroom/meeting. Every virtual meeting space should be treated with care and security to prevent unauthorized entry, loss of student privacy/information, and continued disruptions to your meeting.

We strongly recommend the following settings for all Zoom meetings. These settings can be found in your Zoom profile settings.

Only authenticated users can join meetings - ON

(STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR UPPER ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL)

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This will require that all participants login to Zoom with their BPS email accounts. This will ensure that all participants in your meeting are BPS students/staff and make it easy to identify someone if there are issues during your meeting. Click here to view this setting for your account

Only authenticated users can join meetings from Web client - ON

(STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR UPPER ELEMENTARY, MIDDLE, AND HIGH SCHOOL)

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We recommend that this setting follow the previous setting. Click here to view this setting in your account.

Join before host - OFF

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This will prevent students from joining your meeting before you arrive. Guests will be held at the join screen until the host arrives. Click here to view this setting in your account

Chat & Private Chat - OFF (can be adjusted during meetings)

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We recommend keeping this setting off by default because the host can easily change this during the meeting using the "Security" button. Click here to view this setting in your account.

Screen Sharing - OFF (can be adjusted during meetings)

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This setting can be easily changed within your meeting using the Security button so we recommend having this OFF by default. Click here to view this setting in your account.

Annotation - OFF unless you intend to use this feature

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Annotation will allow participants to draw on your screen, which is why we recommend disabling this unless you intend to use this feature. Click here to view this setting in your account

Allow participants to rename themselves - OFF

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This is another setting that can be changed in the Security menu while in a meeting so it is recommend that this be off by default. Click here to view this setting in your account.

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