What's a Free & Safe Video Conferencing Tool?

[kyphysics]

I've heard of Zoom, of course, as a video meeting tool. However, I've heard stories of it being hacked into by people and it being sometimes unsafe.
I'm wondering if there is something like it that is both free and "safe" (I assume nothing is 100% safe, but am thinking of just not having any major security scandals attached to it and a good reputation)? Appreciate the feedback. ...And, out of curiosity, are you folks using these tools more since the pandemic started?

 

[jedishrfu]

Try zoom first And see if you like it. Nothing is safe. In a conferencing environment anyone of the participants can leak information.

In one case, someone had their zoom password on a sticky note on the wall behind them and they wondered how they got hacked.

Zoom is getting so much attention nowadays that you can be sure they are more serious about hacking attempts.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

It is true that Zoom meetings are not safe from hacking, but it is also true that many large conferences have already used it successfully (eg. ICHEP 2020). I read somewhere that Zoom is implementing a feature that will inform the participants before a meeting is disrupted/hacked by an intruder.

For my college classes, we have extensively used Google Meet, and it worked flawlessly most of the time.

Most of the video conferencing softwares have participant/time limits. Zoom, on free license, will automatically disconnect everyone after 40 mins. Google Meet has a limit on the number of participants (can't remember exactly how many are allowed, but the number was < 100).

Zoom and Google Meet both allow recording the meeting, but that isn't available in the free version. You can, of course, use a screen recording software like OBS Studio for recording the meeting.

Edited: typo