Jitsi Meet is a free, open-source, video call app that doesn't require you to create an account to use it. The privacy conscious folks at the Tor Project recently recommended Jitsi Meet as a good alternative to Zoom. Jitsi Meet works on desktop, Android and iOS devices, has pretty high-quality video and audio, allows for password protected video calls, and has no limit on participants (although your internet bandwidth might set limits for you). And for those more techie folks out there, because Jitsi Meet is open-source, people with the interest and ability can install and run their own version of Jitsi Meet on their own servers. (Note: The review below is for the public version of Jitsi Meet. People who install and run their own versions of Jitsi Meet might not meet all these criteria.).
What could happen if something goes wrong?
Jitsi Meet and the open-source community behind it appear to value and prioritize privacy and security as part of their mission in making this product. It’s a little hard for us to tell exactly how they are doing in 2021 though because we found the email address they recommend in their privacy policy for questions of their data protection officer no longer works. That’s not good. Jitsi.Meet uses encryption, but it is not quite there yet in terms of full end-to-end encryption by default. Right now, you can only turn on end-to-end encryption if you are using Jitsi Meet on certain browsers (but not on Firefox, boo!). 8x8, the parent company of Jitsi Meet, does collect and share (but not sell) data to third-parties. This is common for many products out there, so it’s not unusual,
Can it snoop on me?
Camera
Device: N/A
App: Yes
Microphone
Device: N/A
App: Yes
Tracks location
Device: N/A
App: No
What can be used to sign up?
No
Phone
No
Third-party account
No
Jitsi Meet does not require users create accounts.
What data does the company collect?
Personal
Username, IP address
Body related
No
Social
No. Chats and speaker's stats are destroyed directly at the end of the meeting.
How does the company use this data?
How can you control your data?
What is the company’s known track record of protecting users’ data?
We could find no history of data breaches or leaks
Can this product be used offline?
User-friendly privacy information?
We can see a transparent and detailed communication of all privacy & security aspects of Jitsi. The target audience are rather privacy-oriented folks, but still there is some effort to make the information simpler - which is a challenging task in the security space. We especially appreciate the existence of both detailed technical security architecture whitepaper and the educational paper with an explanation what it means, for people without a degree in InfoSec.
Links to privacy information
Does this product meet our Minimum Security Standards?
Encryption
Jitsi Meet uses encryption, but it is not quite there yet in terms of full end-to-end encryption by default. Right now, you can only turn on end-to-end encryption if you are using Jitsi Meet on certain browsers (unfortunately, Jitsi Meet does not support end-to-end encryption on Firefox).
Strong password
Both meetings and accounts can be password-protected
Security updates
Jitsi also provides blog posts detailing what is new in terms of security.
Manages vulnerabilities
Jitsi operates a security response center.
Privacy policy
Does the product use AI?
Jitsi use machine learning to improve WebRTC Call Quality
Is this AI untrustworthy?
What kind of decisions does the AI make about you or for you?
Is the company transparent about how the AI works?
Does the user have control over the AI features?
Dive Deeper
-
Tor Project Supports Jitsi MeetTor Project
-
The best alternatives to Zoom for videoconferencingThe Verge
-
A look at how Jitsi became a ‘secure’ open-source alternative to ZoomThe Next Web
-
The Best Video-Conferencing ServiceWirecutter
Comments
Got a comment? Let us hear it.