90 TIME December 21/December 28, 2020
Zoom’s greatest strength—its accessibility—
allowed it to be used in a seemingly unlimited vari-
ety of ways. But the company’s focus on ease of use
soon became its greatest vulnerability. “This is the
Silicon Valley way: get to market as fast as you can,
make it super user- friendly, and security is an after-
thought,” says Patrick Wardle, a security researcher
at the software company Jamf.
Because Zoom wasn’t particularly well known
pre-pandemic, it hadn’t been extensively targeted by
hackers or researchers. But its shortcomings started
to become clear in the spring, with alarming head-
lines piling up by the day: Malicious interlopers,
dubbed Zoom bombers, were crashing meetings or
classrooms to deliver lewd, racist or sexist tirades.
Zoom was quietly sending data to Facebook without
notifying its users. Zoom lied about off ering end-
to-end encryption, leading to an FTC investigation.
Wardle poked into Zoom’s code and was taken
aback at how easily he was able to fi nd two bugs, in-
cluding one that would allow a hacker to take con-
trol of a user’s camera and microphone. Wardle’s
fi ndings, published on March 30, contributed to a
widespread backlash—Elon Musk banned the use
of Zoom at SpaceX, and the New York City public-
school system nixed its use for remote learning.
“It was a shocking thing,” Yuan says. “I felt like
we were working so hard—so why was there so much
bad press?” He apologized profusely and announced
he would spend the next 90 days improving the com-
pany’s privacy and security. Privately, he reached out
to Wardle and other security researchers to ask for
guidance. “If you do not listen to them, how can you
fi x that?” Yuan says.
Night after sleepless night, Yuan stayed up moni-
toring server functionality and reviewing new secu-
rity features. He hired prominent security researchers,
upgraded the platform’s encryption and expanded its
bug-bounty program to compensate ethical hackers.
The transparency and urgency with which Yuan acted
impressed Wardle, who is used to tech companies ob-
fuscating. “Their feet were held to the fi re, and they
took a really emotionally mature response,” he says.
Perhaps the biggest lingering issue is censorship.
In June, following pressure from the Chinese govern-
ment, Zoom suspended the accounts of three activ-
ists who had planned a remembrance of Tiananmen
Square. Having already faced scrutiny for its use of
servers and developers in China, the company felt a
signifi cant backlash. Yuan reversed course, apolo-
gized and severely limited Zoom access in mainland
China. But the damage was done. Missouri Senator
Josh Hawley insinuated Yuan held a torn national al-
legiance between the U.S. and China , an accusation
that pained Yuan. “I’m a Chinese American. Zoom
is a proud American company. That’s a fact,” he says,
his voice rising.
Still, censorship remains the dilemma that faces
any nominally global platform operating at the plea-
sure of national governments that defi ne free speech
their way. “If someone tells us, ‘There’s a terrorist
group identifi ed by our government,’ then we are
going to shut them down,” Yuan says.IN NOVEMBER, WHEN PFIZER announced the initial
results of its vaccine, Yuan’s net worth plunged $5 bil-
lion as investors cast doubt on Zoom’s post pandemic
relevance. The news came as a relief to Yuan: he hasn’t
much cared for the notoriety or the unpredictability
this year has brought him. “I still want to go back to
the product side—that’s my strength, not as a public
fi gure,” he says. “I just do not enjoy that.”
But it doesn’t seem as if Zoom will shift into the
slow lane anytime soon. At the end of November,
Zoom’s revenue had hit $777 million, up 367% from
last year; it now boasts 433,700 paying subscribers
with more than 10 employees, a 63% increase from
just six months ago at the height of the fi rst wave.
Companies are increasingly willing to forgo costly of-
fi ce space and hire employees regardless of location.
According to the U.S. research fi rm Gartner, only a
quarter of workplace meetings will take place in per-
son by 2024, signaling a hybrid work future.
The continued proliferation of video calling
comes with plenty of concerns. While productiv-
ity has held, mental health has slipped worldwide;
many users are complaining about “Zoom fatigue,”
in which constant video calls exacerbate burnout
and exhaustion. The calls can highlight disparities
among participants, severely disadvantaging those
with crowded or chaotic home situations or limited
access to the Internet. At the same time, these new
modes of communication have widened the gap be-
tween white collar workers and the essential work-
ers forced to risk contracting the virus every day they
report to their in-person jobs.
But there are ways that a new Zoom reality could
also break down long-standing norms. Zoom off ers
the potential to reset hierarchical workplace dynam-
ics (when everyone’s on the same screen, there’s no
corner offi ce). It cuts down on needless business
fl ights. Studies have shown how increased fl exibil-
ity positively impacts women in the workplace, par-
ticularly mothers with newborns.
Whether or not Zoom ushers in a more equita-
ble future, there are few who will be able to forget
the fi rst year spent on the platform. The McCabes,
healthy and at home, are looking forward to show-
ing Emberly Anne the Zoom video of her birth
10 years from now. “To live in this world we do
with the tech we have, we got really lucky,” Rox-
anne says. Zoom was not what we imagined for
the year, but it’s the best we had—and it held us to-
gether, one fl ickering call at a time. —With report-
ing by CHARLIE CAMPBELL/SHANGHAI and BILLY
PERRIGO/LONDON □‘ZOOM IS
A PROUD
AMERICAN
COMPANY.’
2020 Businessperson of the Year