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Open Letter to Skype
Renegade:
Yep. More privacy related stuff.
http://www.skypeopenletter.com/
Open Letter to Skype
From Concerned Privacy Advocates, Internet Activists, Journalists & Other Organizations
Thursday January 24th, 2013;
Skype Division President Tony Bates
Microsoft Chief Privacy Officer Brendon Lynch
Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith
Dear Mr. Bates, Mr. Lynch and Mr. Smith,
Skype is a voice, video and chat communications platform with over 600 million users worldwide, effectively making it one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies. Many of its users rely on Skype for secure communications—whether they are activists operating in countries governed by authoritarian regimes, journalists communicating with sensitive sources, or users who wish to talk privately in confidence with business associates, family, or friends.
It is unfortunate that these users, and those who advise them on best security practices, work in the face of persistently unclear and confusing statements about the confidentiality of Skype conversations, and in particular the access that governments and other third parties have to Skype user data and communications.
We understand that the transition of ownership to Microsoft, and the corresponding shifts in jurisdiction and management, may have made some questions of lawful access, user data collection, and the degree of security of Skype communications temporarily difficult to authoritatively answer. However, we believe that from the time of the original announcement of a merger in October 2011, and on the eve of Microsoft’s integration of Skype into many of its key software and services, the time has come for Microsoft to publicly document Skype’s security and privacy practices.
We call on Skype to release a regularly updated Transparency Report that includes:
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More at the site.
f0dder:
We call on Skype to release a regularly updated Transparency Report that includes:-Renegade (January 25, 2013, 09:12 AM)
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They should do that, but really it's a no-brainer - Microsoft has to comply with the patriot act.
While there might not have been (but I'd be surprised if there weren't) any backdoors in Skype prior to the MS purchase, there certainly were means to see exactly what was going on. And while it might not be official now, there's definitely regular backdoors in Skype now.
Who on earth would use non-opensource programs for secure communications anyway? :tellme: :o :tellme: :huh: :huh: :huh: :tellme: :huh: :tellme: :o
(oh yeah. I need to kick myself in the hiney and get fSekrit brushed up for opensource release. Version3 de/serialization and PBKDF2 wasn't the funniest code to implement, so both those features are halfway-done at the moment).
Tinman57:
They should do that, but really it's a no-brainer - Microsoft has to comply with the patriot act.
While there might not have been (but I'd be surprised if there weren't) any backdoors in Skype prior to the MS purchase, there certainly were means to see exactly what was going on. And while it might not be official now, there's definitely regular backdoors in Skype now.
Who on earth would use non-opensource programs for secure communications anyway? :tellme: :o :tellme: :huh: :huh: :huh: :tellme: :huh: :tellme: :o
-f0dder (January 25, 2013, 12:15 PM)
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Spot on. The Patriot Act says that all communications will have back doors for government surveillance. It's the New World Order that the U.S. is hell-bent on achieving. It all started when a dumb-ass coke-snorting rich-boy president named GW Bush decided it would be a good thing to do. Geeze, what an idiot....
Carol Haynes:
Spot on. The Patriot Act says that all communications will have back doors for government surveillance. It's the New World Order that the U.S. is hell-bent on achieving.-Tinman57 (January 25, 2013, 06:25 PM)
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So if I use Skype in the UK to communicate with someone in the UK it is subject to the US Patriot Act?
Who on earth would use non-opensource programs for secure communications anyway?
-f0dder (January 25, 2013, 12:15 PM)
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Anyone who uses a phone (mobile or land line).
There is already concern that Chinese and Korean built mobile phones can potentially be used to collect data for their parent companies. Currently Samsung are working on buying Blackberry - which is causing some consternation in Canada from a security point of view!
cmpm:
So if I use Skype in the UK to communicate with someone in the UK it is subject to the US Patriot Act?
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Yes.
Various provisions allowed for the disclosure of electronic communications to law enforcement agencies. Those who operate or own a "protected computer" can give permission for authorities to intercept communications carried out on the machine, thus bypassing the requirements of the Wiretap statute. The definition of a "protected computer" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1030(e)(2) and broadly encompasses those computers used in interstate or foreign commerce or communication, including ones located outside the United States.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act
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