Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Networking

    Skype Denies It Has Changed Privacy Policy to Aid Law Enforcement

    By
    Robert J. Mullins
    -
    July 27, 2012
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Skype has issued a vigorous defense of its privacy policies and denies allegations made in some media reports that it has revised the architecture of its service to aid law-enforcement efforts to monitor calls.

      “Some media stories recently have suggested Skype may be acting improperly or based on ulterior motives against our users’ interests. Nothing could be more contrary to the Skype philosophy,” wrote Mark Gillett, chief development and operations officer at Skype, in a blog post.

      While not identifying the media outlets involved, Gillett denied reports that Skype made changes to its network architecture at the behest of Microsoft, which acquired Skype earlier this year, in order to provide law enforcement with greater access to user communications. Skype began the deployment of what he called “supernodes” even before Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Skype in 2011. The supernodes are powerful computers that act as a distributed directory of Skype users so that two Skype users can find each other. But the supernodes do not make the calls, he said.

      Since the $8.5 billion acquisition, Skype has consolidated all the supernodes, which had been deployed in Skype data centers and in third-party cloud providers, such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), into Microsoft data centers. That’s what the re-architecture was about, Gillett said, not to facilitate law-enforcement access to calls.

      The issue of service-provider acquiescence to law-enforcement requests for information was raised in the wake of a New York Times report that law-enforcement agencies made 1.3 million requests for information from nine cell phone carriers in the United States in 2011. The reports were requested by U.S. Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who is a co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus in the House of Representatives.

      Markey’s report states that the volume of law-enforcement requests has grown at an annual rate of between 12 percent and 16 percent over the last five years. The requests were for text messages, caller location and other information. Some records were handed over after a subpoena, but others were shared in “emergency” situations where there wasn’t time to get a subpoena.

      Skype was not one of the service providers included in the Markey report. Nonetheless, Skype has also received law-enforcement requests and has procedures in place to respond to them, Gillett said.

      “Skype has had a team of Skype employees to respond to legal demands and requests from law enforcement since 2005,” he wrote. “Our position has always been that when a law-enforcement entity follows the appropriate procedures, we respond where legally required and technically feasible.”

      Gillett also denied media reports that with its new architecture of supernodes located in Microsoft data centers that Skype now monitors and records audio and video calls of its users. Supernodes do not make calls, he emphasized, and Skype-to-Skype calls do not go through Skype/Microsoft data centers. He also added that Skype autonomously applies encryption to Skype-to-Skype calls.

      “The enhancements we have been making to our software and infrastructure have been to improve user experience and reliability. Period,” Gillett wrote.

      Robert J. Mullins
      Robert Mullins is a freelance writer for eWEEK who has covered the technology industry in Silicon Valley for more than a decade. He has written for several tech publications including Network Computing, Information Week, Network World and various TechTarget titles. Mullins also served as a correspondent in the San Francisco Bureau of IDG News Service and, before that, covered technology news for the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. Back in his home state of Wisconsin, Robert worked as the news director for NPR stations in Milwaukee and LaCrosse in the 1980s.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×