Here you will find recommendations for successfully participating in a meeting hosted by the video conference software Zoom. These recommendations make sure that as little personal data as possible are disclosed when you use Zoom.
Please observe the following basic instructions and please update your own settings accordingly when you use Zoom. Irrespective of the instructions specified here, the Zoom terms of use and the data protection policy apply.
Information on how to have video conferences which are as secure as possible can be found under Secure video conferences.
Instead of your real name, use your initials or a pseudonym. Ideally, your pseudonym makes it impossible to identify your real name.
Generally, you are not obliged to indicate your real name.
However, this does not apply to courses, since actively participating in courses is the basis for the students’ performance and evaluation (e.g. in seminars). In this case, identifying students is necessary for evaluating their performance and you have to use your real name.
Activate your microphone and camera only when needed. You are generally not obliged to activate your microphone or camera.
However, this does not apply to courses, since actively participating in courses is the basis for the students’ performance and evaluation (e.g. in seminars). Transmitting video and sound is indispensable for actively participating in the course.
No other persons present
While your video is activated, and generally during a meeting, no other persons should be present.
Check your surroundings
Before you activate your camera, please check your video and remove any items which should not be seen. Pay particular attention to confidential documents.
Using virtual backgrounds
When transmitting your video, you can chose a virtual background which is displayed instead of your real background. There are minimal system requirements for using virtual backgrounds. If these requirements are not met, the feature is not available. Information on this and further information on the virtual background can be found on the Zoom website.
If you enter a random Zoom room, it is possible that you join a meeting by mistake. If you do, you might be removed from the meeting and consequently banned from this room. Bans have to be lifted by the University IT. Please contact the IT support.
If you have installed Zoom on your computer, please adjust the settings in Zoom so that the program does not auto-start when you start the operating system.
Zoom directly provides information on the settings.