Skype is not the tool for telehealth and telemedicine where HIPAA compliancy is a concern or any application where you care about security. Skype has always been close about whether it keeps decryption keys and Skype security and privacy concerns have grown since its 2011 Microsoft acquisition. In a recent letter, Reporters Without Borders and 44 other groups have started pressing Microsoft for more transparency on their security policies. Key requests include:
- quantitative data on access granted to government entities around the world
- specifics on what user information is collected and kept by Skype
- analysis of third party interceptions likelihood
- what counts as lawful disclosure requests and steps taken when responding
What Skype says about Skype Security
Skype’s blog says that 1-on-1 video chats are peer-to-peer and encrypted so others can’t see your conversation. However, there are numerous claims that Skype has a built-in backdoor for government surveillance. In China, for example, downloading Skype redirects you to a “Skype” client created by the Chinese government. In addition, Microsoft acknowledges that Skype group video goes through Microsoft servers – which have full access to your conversations. Moreover, its privacy policy clearly states that text chats, voice and video messages may be stored on its servers 30 to 90 days for technical reasons. Skype has also facedvarious other security issues such as being a hotbed for viruses and hijacking users’ systems to be used as supernodes.
VSee Security Champion
VSee continues to champion the security and privacy of its users. VSee is HIPAA compliant and does not have access to any of your video conversations. All video calls are encrypted end-to-end using FIPS 140-2 256-bit AES encryption and is never stored on any VSee server. You can learn more about VSee security here.
Related Articles
- Skype for Healthcare: Is It Safe? (Advance Healthcare POV)
- What Does Google Do If the Government Comes Looking for Your Emails? (The Atlantic)
- Four Reasons Why Not To Use Skype (or Facetime) (NuRep Blog)
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