He says on his Web site that: 'These lists are used for both censorship and surveillanceВ unless otherwise noted.'

In an unusually direct blog post, a top Skype spokesman labels the allegations false. Skype talks back to critics on security and privacyД¬ritics have been slamming Skype (and its corporate parent Microsoft) with insinuation that it's taking shortcuts with its users' privacy. 'in accordance with local law,' and that TOM Online is the majority stakeholder in the arrangement. While Microsoft-owned Skype admits that the China-only version offered by its joint-venture partner contains a chat filter The EFF, among others, wanted Microsoft to provide details on the 'current operational relationship between Skype with TOM Online in China and other third-party licensed users of Skype technology' is, in order to understand the surveillance and censorship capabilities that users may be subject to. The EFF and others signed an open letter in January demanding that Microsoft release a transparency report, detailing how the company deals with requests for user data in China and around the world. Exactly how much data is handed to or acquired by the Chinese government from Skype users, however, is not yet known. The trouble for Microsoft is that in China you have to play by its rules. In doing so, it's left a trail of controversy in the eyes of privacy and civil liberties groups, not limited to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), for pandering to the requirements of the 'oppressive' Chinese government.Д®FF, others to Microsoft: Who's requesting our Skype data?ДЄ coalition of privacy and advocacy groups, including Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), have published an open letter to Microsoft regarding Skype transparency-or lack of. In order to expand to the Chinese market, Microsoft developed a version of Skype, which the Redmond, Washington-based company bought in 2011 for $8.5 billion, with TOM Online, a China-based mobile Internet company. student has shown that, amid rumors that Skype is not as secure or as private as it is believed to be, the Chinese authorities are able to snoop and censor text-based conversations for active censorship and surveillance purposes. But f or major players in the technology industry, such as Microsoft, a foothold in the lucrativeВ Chinese market is worth bowing down to certain ethical considerations that would not ordinarily pass in the Western world.

It's no secret that the Chinese government is spying on its own citizens, and censoring what they see and access online.

Skype for mac cnet