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Research and write about privacy/security and accessibility in FLOSS tools
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Description

IMPORTANT: Make sure to read the Outreachy participant instructions and communication guidelines thoroughly before commenting on this task. This Phabricator task is for project-specific questions, so do not ask questions about getting started, setting up Gerrit, getting assigned, etc. here. When in doubt, ask your question on Zulip first!

This task involves researching the privacy, security, and accessibility features of Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) video conferencing tools (e.g., Jitsi Meet and BigBlueButton) and publishing the findings on the Meta-Wiki WikiProject Remote Event Participation page.

  1. Select a FLOSS video conferencing tool:
    • Multiple people can take on this task by selecting different FLOSS video conferencing tools to research. Examples include:
      • Jitsi Meet
      • BigBlueButton
      • Nextcloud Talk
      • Matrix/Riot
    • Each participant should choose a tool to avoid overlap.
  1. Research privacy and security features:
    • Investigate the privacy and security measures of the selected tool, focusing on aspects such as:
      • Data encryption (end-to-end or server-side)
      • User data protection and anonymity
      • Compliance with privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR)
      • Potential vulnerabilities or areas of concern
  1. Research accessibility features:
    • Look into the accessibility options provided by the tool, including:
      • Support for users with disabilities (e.g., screen readers, subtitles, contrast settings)
      • Mobile device compatibility
      • User interface simplicity and ease of navigation
      • Multilingual support
  1. Write and publish findings:
    • Write a brief report summarizing the privacy, security, and accessibility features of the selected tool. Ensure the report is concise, clear, and well-organized.
    • Use accessible language and include references to the documentation or sources used.
    • Publish the findings on the WikiProject remote event participation/Privacy, security and accessibility subpage on Meta-Wiki. If you’re unfamiliar with Meta-Wiki, you can learn more here.

Event Timeline

hi @Andrerodriguex @Aklapper I want to take this microtask.
I am starting with JITSI meet

Hi @Andrerodriguex,
Kindly assign this task to me if that's the first thing you want to do as per norm.
Reason to chose this task: Umm, my niche is security mostly cyber.
Thanks

hi @Andrerodriguex @Aklapper I want to take this microtask.

Hi @Jatinder190124 ,
Glad to know your interest in the same task. Can we do this together? I see there's a lot to be done with this one.
Collaborating would be fun though? What say?
PS: Also bcoZ we're from the same time zone.

Hi everyone and thanks for your interest. Please see the information for participants on https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreach_programs and follow https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/New_Developers#Communication_tips (please do not ask to "assign" etc). Thanks!

Hi @Andrerodriguex I have edited a meta wiki page elaborating the Jitsi Meet's privacy, security and accessibility features
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiProject_remote_event_participation/Privacy,_security_and_accessibility

Hello is there anyone working on BigBlueButton, Nextcloud Talk, Matrix/Riot?

@vaYshaleee alright! I am working on Nextcloud Talk.

Hi @Aklapper and @Andrerodriguex kindly assign me to task #T376236 as I would like to contribute my research skill to write about privacy/security and accessibility in FLOSS tools.

Hi @Aklapper and @Andrerodriguex kindly assign me to task #T376236 as I would like to contribute my research skill to write about privacy/security and accessibility in FLOSS tools.

You can start working on it, just choose one FLOSS video conferencing tool and follow the guidelines. Message me if you have any doubts.

Hello @Andrerodriguex , I have researched and published the privacy, security and accessbility features of Nextcloud Talk.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiProject_remote_event_participation/Privacy,_security_and_accessibility
I look forward to any feedback.

Hello @Andrerodriguex ,
I have researched and published the privacy, security and accessbility features of BigBlueButton Talk + Added category QW2025.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiProject_remote_event_participation/Privacy,_security_and_accessibility
I look forward to any feedback.

Hi @Andrerodriguex ,
I want to work on this task. I have chosen OpenMeetings as the FLOSS video conferencing tool.

Hi, @Andrerodriguex, I want to work on the Matrix/Riot. Thank you

Hello Andre Rodrigues

I hope this message finds you well. I am grateful for the opportunity to
contribute to the research on privacy, security, and accessibility in FLOSS
tools. For this study, I focused on Nextcloud Talk as the video
conferencing tool.

I have now completed my research and compiled detailed findings. Before
proceeding with the final submission, I would appreciate your review of the
attached document.

Here is the link to the research report:
*https://docs.google.com/document/d/11SjYUToUf-fF35_AXJnZ0ulC_zZeK54zqLw6XEDsKhU/edit?usp=sharing*
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11SjYUToUf-fF35_AXJnZ0ulC_zZeK54zqLw6XEDsKhU/edit?usp=sharing

I look forward to your feedback and guidance on the next step.

Best regards,

Aderonke

Hello Andrerodriguex,

I have researched and published the privacy, security, and accessibility
features of Nextcloud Talk for task #T376236. I've also added it to the
category QW2025. You can find the details here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:WikiProject_Remote_Event_Participation
Looking forward to any feedback you may have!

Best regards,
Aderonke

Hi everyone. Here is some general feedback as all of you could do some of the same improvements. First, the descriptions are more on the generic side (please read the comment I left on the main Phabricator task a few days ago). I would suggest you include better descriptions, images or even experiment with the tools yourselves and report what you experienced. I did this with Jitsi during my internship and it was really valuable. You don't have to describe everything in topics to match the task description, as it is expected that not all of those tools would have answers to all of our questions and needs.

Additionally, I think your references could be improved. Add them whenever you can to specific parts of your text. For example, if you're talking about privacy, add your reference right after that section, avoiding only general references at the end of the research.

Hello Andrerodriguex,

I have researched and published the privacy, security, and accessibility
features of Nextcloud Talk for task #T376236. I've also added it to the
category QW2025. You can find the details here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:WikiProject_Remote_Event_Participation
Looking forward to any feedback you may have!

Best regards,
Aderonke

Hey Aderonke! You added your research to the WikiProject's category, not its page. Please read the task description again to find the Privacy, security and accessibility subpage and add your content there, as well as remove what you've added to the category.

This comment was removed by Writeng.

Hi @Andrerodriguex,
Hope you're doing well.
I have been fidgeting around BigBlueButton, so i changed my contribution accordingly making it more personal to my own experience rather than a generic overview.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiProject_remote_event_participation/Privacy,_security_and_accessibility

Kindly take a look and I'm open to feedbacks.
Thanking you

This comment was removed by Writeng.

Hello @Andrerodriguex,

I hope this message finds you well.

Thank you for your valuable feedback on my previous work, it has
significantly helped me in refining my new research. I have taken your
suggestions to heart, and they have greatly influenced my approach to
writing and describing my ideas.

I have removed the content from the category page, made the necessary
corrections, and developed new research based on my personal experiences.
You can find my work on* Privacy, Security, and Accessibility in
Nextcloud. *
Here is the link:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiProject_remote_event_participation/Privacy,_security_and_accessibility

I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to review my
research and provide any insights or suggestions you might have.

Thank you once again for your guidance. I look forward to hearing your
thoughts.

Best regards,
Aderonke.

A few updates on this tasks (if you haven't done updates from the previous general feedback, please do):

  • @vaYshaleee Your research looks fine overall, I really like the part regarding security flaws that could be exploited. Meanwhile I think the text could stick to privacy, security and accessibility, therefore I think some of the listed features don't match the theme. Also, as the WikiProject remote event participation's page is not directly related to QW2025, I would advise you to remove that part.
  • @GonzaGertrude @Aderonke24 You both wrote about Nextcloud, with GonzaGertrude writing before. It would be nice if you two could work together to make just one text joining parts of each research. If you can't, I would advise Aderonke24 to select other tool as GonzaGertrude had already added theirs before.
  • @Adzepa Your part is really concise and informative, that's very good. One short note is, for the sake of consistency, keep all your text under the same Level 2 heading as others did.

hi @Andrerodriguex I enhanced my research and added/updated my new findings here

Hello @Jatinder190124 and others, how do you add images to mediawiki? I mean from a computer.

  • @GonzaGertrude @Aderonke24 You both wrote about Nextcloud, with GonzaGertrude writing before. It would be nice if you two could work together to make just one text joining parts of each research. If you can't, I would advise Aderonke24 to select other tool as GonzaGertrude had already added theirs before.

(https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiProject_remote_event_participation/Privacy,_security_and_accessibility)

Noted! @Aderonke24 are you open to the idea of working together?

Yes @GonzaGertrude you need to first upload and then insert image there in the meta wiki page

I have tried to but failed. I can't see the upload section under tools.

I will show you how to do that at the end of today's meeting @GonzaGertrude

@Andrerodriguex after experimenting with NextCloud talk, I have added new findings here

  • @Adzepa Your part is really concise and informative, that's very good. One short note is, for the sake of consistency, keep all your text under the same Level 2 heading as others did.

Good evening @Andrerodriguex, have kept my text under level 2 headings, as advised. Thank you.

@GonzaGertrude I'm definitely open to collaborating and merging our findings thank you.

@GonzaGertrude I'm definitely open to collaborating and merging our findings thank you.

Hi, I went through your work. I suggest you go through mine too so that we can discuss better. We can schedule a meeting today

I will go through your research work now and I am open for meeting is
tonight if you won't mind

Hi @Zblace @Andrerodriguex I had a word with JITSI Meet team and as per their words we can get captions, screen sharing, and many other accessibility features by two ways -

  1. We can host our own Jitsi instance..
  2. We can go for jitsi subscription

References -
https://jitsi.org/blog/introducing-whiteboards-in-jitsi-meet/

https://github.com/jitsi/jitsi-meet/releases

Thank you @Andrerodriguex for your time.
Fixed most of the issues pointed by you.
You can find the report here.

hi @Andrerodriguex ,

If I may ask please, can I still pick a FLOSS tool to research and write a report on?
Or are all tasks already assigned?

Please advise,
Thank you

Yeah sure you can @Tegaphoenix

hi @Andrerodriguex ,

If I may ask please, can I still pick a FLOSS tool to research and write a report on?
Or are all tasks already assigned?

Please advise,
Thank you

@Jatinder190124 @vaYshaleee great improvements!

@GonzaGertrude can you check your text's formatting? It looks a little bit messy on the lists.

@Tegaphoenix you're welcomed to participate.

@Andrerodriguex, just to be sure, are we restricted to the four tools listed above, or can we research others and write a report on them?

Thank you.