Announcements

There is a for-profit organization, WebinarTV, that is unethically scraping webinars using bots that actually attend the meetings. We had several webinars scraped that our SAA ARCS Section delivered. And beyond this, they are also scraping focus groups. It is quite chilling. Here are both of our webinars that were scraped:

Email preservation:
https://webinartv.us/watch/1b5847c63f5b2dc5d6c41ae3dde3fa93f538543f

Archival description

https://webinartv.us/watch/f2db9c47e77d0faa0b0ba495ef33fb61ef31a194

I have written to WebinarTV demanding they remove these webinars and they have not done so. I have also submitted a DCMA form to Google but nothing has happened.

For more information on this type of scraping,  visit the Cyber Alberta website:

https://cyberalberta.ca/zooming-out-webinartvs-rampant-scraping-of-online-meetings

There is guidance provided by Stanford University to try to reduce the number of times this happens:

https://uit.stanford.edu/news/protect-stanford-digital-assets-online-video-scrapers

Our Library Technology Manager recently sent out an email about this. Here was his guidance:

When Setting Up Zoom Meetings

1. Require Authentication. Under the "Security" section when scheduling a meeting, you have to choose either "Passcode," "Waiting Room," or "Require authentication to join." Of these, the last one is the most secure, specifically when you choose "Zoom accounts with a Duke-associated email." This will only allow participants who are Duke staff and should generally be the default for internal Duke meetings.
2. Don't Publicly Post Zoom Links with Passwords. If you use the "Passcode" option, the invite link will generally encode that in the link itself where you will see a "?pwd=" in the middle of the link. If that link becomes public and you don't have any other security measures in place, anyone will be able to join your meeting.
3. Use the Waiting Room. This is the default setting, but it's generally not very secure because hosts frequently just admit anyone waiting. Actively reviewing participants in the waiting room and not allowing unknown participants in can prevent the meeting being scraped. You can also request that people in the waiting room turn on their cameras if you'd like to try to verify that they're human before admitting them.
4. Add Viewer Watermarks. Under the "Options" section when starting a meeting, you can check the box for "Add watermark that identifies the viewing participant." This won't prevent a video from being posted, necessarily, but you would be able to read which account was the viewer in the posted video.

For Hosts When Running a Meeting

1. Monitor the Waiting Room. As mentioned above, don't just admit everyone. Only admit people you want in the meeting, and verify anyone who is unknown.
2. Monitor the Participant List. As meetings go on, you may see new people pop in. Promptly remove any bots or unwanted participants from the meeting.

For Staff Generally

1. Use Zoom's Transcription Service. Many of the webscraping incidents seem to originate from people using third-party transcription services for meetings. Using the built-in transcription functionality as opposed to any other services will greatly aid security.
2. Don't Use Third-Party Plugins. There are numerous browser plugins and extensions that claim to facilitate scheduling or joining meetings. Only ones actually made and published by the company itself (e.g. Zoom Communications, Inc.) should ever be considered. Using a third-party plugin essentially gives a third-party company complete access to your Zoom information.

There is a for-profit organization, WebinarTV, that is unethically scraping webinars using bots that actually attend the meetings. We had several webinars scraped that our SAA ARCS Section delivered. And beyond this, they are also scraping focus groups. It is quite chilling. Here are both of our webinars that were scraped:

Email preservation:
https://webinartv.us/watch/1b5847c63f5b2dc5d6c41ae3dde3fa93f538543f

Archival description

https://webinartv.us/watch/f2db9c47e77d0faa0b0ba495ef33fb61ef31a194

I have written to WebinarTV demanding they remove these webinars and they have not done so. I have also submitted a DCMA form to Google but nothing has happened.

For more information on this type of scraping,  visit the Cyber Alberta website:

https://cyberalberta.ca/zooming-out-webinartvs-rampant-scraping-of-online-meetings

There is guidance provided by Stanford University to try to reduce the number of times this happens:

https://uit.stanford.edu/news/protect-stanford-digital-assets-online-video-scrapers