Skype Finally Gets End-To-End Encryption For Its 300 Million Users

It might seem weird to hear that Skype hasn’t had end-to-end encryption over the years, but apparently, this was the case. Not anymore, however, as Microsoft has just announced that the hugely popular chat service will finally get this coveted feature. This will allow its over 300 million monthly users to feel safer when talking to others remotely via audio calls or chats.

Now, it’s worth pointing out that Skype did employ encryption technology, so it wasn’t as if Microsoft just left its users unprotected. However, it was never made clear what kind of encryption it was since the company has always been cagey to provide details on it, Ars Technica notes.

With this new update, the chat service is getting a full-fledged encryption protocol that will keep conversations private regards to which end it starts or goes. The feature makes use of Signal protocol, which is the same open-source encryption platform that a lot of other messaging services are already using.

In any case, the new service is called Skype Private Conversations and it will provide many of the usual features that can be expected from regular Skype. This means that it will support both text and audio calls, as well as file transfers. As long as users communicate using this platform, no one, not even Microsoft or law enforcement agencies will be able to eavesdrop on conversations, WIRED reports.

Not everyone is convinced that Microsoft is completely covering user privacy, however, as some have pointed out that the company could still collect user metadata. Then again, this is an issue that users have to deal with when using any encrypted messaging service.

At this point, the only thing that users can really count on is that no one will be able to get the specifics of their conversations as long as the encryption is in place. The fact that the call took place and where the calls were made, however, is a different matter altogether.