Scheme – set up before firm was purchased by Microsoft – allegedly eased access for US law enforcement agencies
Skype, the web-based communications company, reportedly set up a secret programme to make it easier for US surveillance agencies to access customers' information.
The programme, called Project Chess and first revealed by the New York Times on Thursday, was said to have been established before Skype was bought by Microsoft in 2011. Microsoft's links with US security are under intense scrutiny following the Guardian's revelation of Prism, a surveillance program run by the National Security Agency (NSA), that claimed "direct" access to its servers and those of rivals including Apple, Facebook and Google.
Project Chess was set up to explore the legal and technical issues involved in making Skype's communications more readily available to law enforcement and security officials, according to the Times. Only a handful of executives were aware of the plan. The company did not immediately return a call for comment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/20/skype-nsa-access-user-data
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