San Francisco (AFP)

What do Boris Johnson have in common, distance drink enthusiasts and 90,000 schools around the world? All of them use the Zoom videoconferencing application, to work or socialize during the coronavirus pandemic.

But Californian society is faced with unexpected responsibilities, after a dark week marked by security scandals.

Zoom, listed on the stock exchange for less than a year, was created in Silicon Valley in 2011 by Eric Yuan, an engineer.

This immigrant claims to be passionate about communication technologies since the 1990s, when, while studying in Shandong (China), he dreamed of seeing his girlfriend without traveling 10 hours by train.

The interface was mainly used for professional meetings ... Before half of humanity gradually found themselves constrained at home.

Today Zoom is used as a classroom, yoga studio, poker table and even a church. Couples get married there, families attend the funeral of a loved one.

"It's very easy to use, just click on a link. Tuesday I found my students there after the holidays, we did a little math and reading," said Justin Minkel, an American teacher who teaches via Zoom.

- Coconut palms -

"When there is too much noise at home, I can turn off all their microphones! It would be handy at school, when they are chatting ..." laughs this resident of Springdale, Arkansas.

His wife connects meetings on Zoom, and his two children also use them for their schooling and meetings with friends.

According to Yuan, the platform surpassed 200 million participants in daily meetings in March, up from 10 million last December.

But why Zoom, and not Google Hangouts, Teams (Microsoft), Skype, FaceTime, Webex, Jitsi ...? Exchange volumes exploded on all video messaging, but none stood out like Zoom.

The platform allows you to call up to 100 people simultaneously, for 40 minutes, free of charge. A paid subscription gives access to more features.

Its design is basic but we choose a background to hide its poorly arranged room (coconut trees, library ...) or share its screen with the other participants.

But above all, in March, Zoom removed the 40-minute limit for teachers in around twenty countries.

- Snowball -

"People were so afraid of being disconnected. And there Zoom arrives saying + here is the solution, it's free, you will not be isolated! + Everyone rushed," says Stephanie DeMichele, technology coach education.

The adoption has snowballed.

Stephanie DeMichele however prefers the tools of Google, in particular for the schools equipped with all the educational suite, because "it is simpler to use what we already have".

"Google provides everything, including emails attached to the school for all children and teachers. This creates a pleasant bubble where you feel safe," she explains.

In contrast, the phenomenon of "ZoomBombing" dismayed her: in recent days, on Zoom, thesis defenses, courses or religious ceremonies have been disturbed by pornographic images or threatening words.

The American media Vice also revealed that the application provides personal data to third parties, such as Facebook.

Companies and organizations such as the Red Cross are now warning their employees not to use it.

- Avalanche -

Prosecutors from at least three US states (Connecticut, New York, and Florida) are investigating the company's privacy and security practices.

"We have not lived up to expectations" on these two subjects, said Eric Yuan on Wednesday in an open letter announcing corrective measures.

"We now have a much larger user base (than professional customers). We are discovering unexpected use cases (...) and we are discovering underlying problems," he said.

"They have a job to restore confidence. But I was impressed, it's more than empty apologies," said Gennie Gebhart, researcher at the NGO Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The American company is focused on the current part, but it should start to envisage the post-pandemic period, estimates Carolina Milanesi, analyst at Creative Strategies. "Zoom is a bit of a single task. Its competitors perform more functions and can easily copy it."

Will software go down in history as the shooting star of containment? "They will not disappear," tempers the expert. "They will just shine weaker".

© 2020 AFP