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Apparently, information has come up depicting just how insecure Skype really is, especially when it comes to the devil-serving NSA: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/12/newly-published-nsa-documents-show-agency-could-grab-all-skype-traffic/ Given this, I figured it would be a good idea to post this as I know many of you use that microsoft spyware stuff, and that you should know what all is likely being filched from you without your knowledge. Be aware that there are alternatives to Skype, if you need to use voice or video chat, if you just use IMs or chat rooms you can make an account someplace with such features (like AIM or yahoo) and you can use the Pidgin IM client to connect to those.

Well I figured that I should post this since many folks here appear to use Skype. So the rundown is this, Skype being owned by microsoft has been found to report back activity to microsoft, which may not necessarily be cause for alarm, except for the fact that Microsoft was also part of the recent PRISM scandal, leaving a question of just how much they log, and with whom they share (or sell?) said logs. See Articles here: http://www.h-online.com/security/news/item/Skype-with-care-Microsoft-is-reading-everything-you-write-1862870.html And Here: http://rt.com/usa/gallagher-nsa-microsoft-skype-653/ All that said, one may want to look into encryption things for Skype, if such things exist. It really isn't a matter of having anything to hide, by the way, but rather a matter of the right to not be spied on by companies and/or government entities that have checkered, if not downright black track records for personal data. Besides, nobody said we had to make it easy for them. >D Anyone looking for alternatives (should privacy measures be unavailable) might want to look at this article: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/fed-up-with-skype-here-are-6-of-the-best-free-alternatives/ and this article: http://gigaom.com/2011/05/10/9-great-alternatives-to-skype-for-voip-and-video-chat/ with one last option here: http://microsip.org.ua/ Of course I personally would avoid google software for the same reason as avoiding microsoft software, and with all of these clients its important to check them for viruses/trojans/spyware etc. (uploading the install file to virustotal.com should check for most nasties, but scan with your own software as well.) Hope this proves of some use to Folks, and if any of you have any suggestions for alternatives not covered here (or have bad news about them) please do make mention of them in comments.