Staying safe on Skype

Some people are very private, whilst others take to the limelight like ducks to water. Skype keeps both kinds happy as our privacy levels allow users to either keep a low profile, or meet new people in the vast Skype network.

Skype keeps you protected from unwanted communications. Just open Tools > Options > Privacy, and set your preferences for receiving communications. We recommend you do not authorise people you do not know and do not want to talk to.

There are lots of features available on Skype that help you stay in contact with your current contacts but also help you find new people to meet. They are easy to use and a great way to find more people to talk to but you need to understand how each feature affects your privacy.

Profiles

It's quick and easy to set your Skype profile it becomes your calling card to millions of Skype users. You can add your birthday, gender, phone numbers and city to your profile, all of which are fields which help other people to search for and find you.

Things to remember

• Public parts of your Skype profile can be seen by all other Skype users.
• Do not put details in your profile that you do not want to be publicly available.
• You do not have to fill in your profile if you do not want to.
• You can change your profile at any time.

Skype buttons

Skype buttons are an easy way to let visitors to your website or blog know whether you are online with Skype. It can also be used in your email signature.

Your Skype button will show your actual online status. So, if you're available to chat, you'll set your status to Online and I'm online will show on your Skype buttons on the web, wherever you've used these. Similarly, if you're busy and don't have time to chat, set your status to Do not disturb and people who view your button will know that you're unavailable and not to be contacted at the moment.

Things to remember

• Your status is shown online and can be seen by anyone accessing the page you have added the button to.
• Skype buttons will encourage other Skype users to contact you.
• By clicking on a Skype button, people not in your contact list can ask for authorization to contact you. Depending on your privacy settings they may also call or chat with you directly.

Find out more about how to create your own Skype button

Public instant messages (IMs)

Public IMs are your very own personal chat room where you can invite anyone to join you in discussing the things that are important to you.

Things to remember

• Other participants will be able to see your Skype Name and the public parts of your profile and may be more likely to contact you as you have something in common.
• Other participants can ask you for authorisation, which, if you give it, will let them access your full profile.

Managing your public IMs

Public IMs are a great way to talk about whatever is on your mind and connect with the world. It's important to know how to moderate an IM and understand the options you have if you are unhappy with any members' comments.

Find out more about privacy and safety using Skype in the FAQs below:

Does Skype contain any advertising or spyware?
No.

Can I get a 'Trojan horse' or virus from using Skype?
There is no risk when you are using Skype only for calls and instant messages. With Skype's File Transfer ability, you should take precautions when accepting files from other parties, just as with any email program or other file transfer programs or files you download directly from the web. We highly recommend that you use updated anti-virus software to scan all incoming files, even from people that you know.

How can I block unwanted callers?
You can force Skype to only allow calls from people in your contact list. Select Options from the file menu and then navigate to the Privacy tab. Check the box next to the option Only allow calls from people in my contact list and then save the changes.

What is the difference between authorizations and contacts?
Having someone on your contact list makes it easier to communicate with them. It's then just a mouse click away to make a call. Authorizations are different in that they grant the right to see the online status of the other party. Your contact list is stored locally. For example, if you have home and work computers and you use the same Skype account on both of them, you need to place your friends into the contact list of both computers. Authorizations that you have been granted are not stored locally on your machine. So if you grant authorization to one person, they will see your online presence each time you login with that Skype Name.

Can I have a person in the contact list without receiving authorization from them?
Yes. The contact will appear with a question mark in their online status. For example, you may add someone to your contact list and you may cancel sending the authorization message, or the other party may not authorize you, or the other party may take time thinking if they are going to authorize you or not. If you want you can always re-send authorization request to other party by right-clicking on a contact.

Can I have person in my contact list without having authorized them?
Yes. In that case you see their presence but they will always see you as offline.

Can I remove a contact list entry?
Yes you can always remove a contact list entry by right-clicking on a contact and selecting Remove from Contacts.

Can I see list of those who have authorized me?
Yes, that is usually part of the contact list which has no question marks in their presence icon. However you can also delete contacts from your list. This action does not revoke authorization that was given to you. In that case you have been authorized and you don't see that in your contact list. You can later add that person to your contact list again and you will re-use previously given authorization. You can also set up Skype on another machine with the same Skype Name. In that case all the authorizations that were given to your first setup also apply to second setup and you will see the person's online presence on your second setup when you add them to your contact list there.

Can I see a list of persons whom I have authorized?
Your authorizations are stored on the people's machines whom you authorized so you can't browse them.

Can I remove or revoke authorization?
You can do that by blocking the user. If you use Skype from multiple locations (for example, work and home), you may have to block the user from both work and home. Go to Contacts on the toolbar, then Advanced and select Manage Blocked Users... to block and unblock users.

What should I do to be able to communicate if I lose my Skype setup?
If you have lost your Skype setup and previously had settings configured to allow only people in your contact list to contact you, then we suggest you change that to let only authorized people contact you, until you have rebuilt your contact list. As always – backup often.

Can you give generic guidelines about when should I choose to allow anyone to contact me, or just authorized people to contact me or just people from my contact list to contact me.
Allow anyone to contact you (default setting) when you do not yet have a big contact list or set of authorized people. Continue to allow anyone to contact you if you are interested in getting random calls from people who just want to meet new people on Skype. Note: Describing your interests in your public profile (menu.file.profile) helps others to decide if they would be interested in calling you. Allow just authorized people to contact you if you have multiple Skype installations and are granting authorizations from both and have different contact lists on them. Allow just people from your contact list to contact you if you frequently receive unwanted calls from strangers and only want to receive calls from your own contacts. In general, the contact list is more restrictive when compared to authorizations. The only difference being the set up where you have listed number of people on your contact list but have denied their requests for authorization.

Which fields in my profile are public?
Everything you write in your public profile is viewable by other Skype users except for the email field. Your email address is encrypted prior to sending it to the network so nobody will be able to see it when they search for contacts. However, others can still look you up in the directory if they already know your full email address when they search for contacts.

How can I delete my public profile?
Your profile record (except the Skype Name) is not stored permanently. Your profile will automatically expire and will be deleted from the user directory in approximately 72 hours after you've last used Skype.

Is Skype secure?
Yes. When you call another Skype user your call is encrypted with strong encryption algorithms ensuring you privacy. In some cases your Skype communication may be routed via other users in the peer-to-peer network. Skype encryption protects you from potential eavesdropping from malicious users.

Why are Skype calls encrypted?
Skype is encrypted end-to-end because it uses the public internet to transport your voice calls and text messages and sometimes these calls are routed through other peers. Skype encryption ensures that no other party can eavesdrop on your call or read your instant messages.

What type of encryption is used?
Skype uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) also known as Rijndael which is also used by US Government organizations to protect sensitive information. Skype uses 256-bit encryption, which has a total of 1.1 x 1077 possible keys, in order to actively encrypt the data in each Skype call or instant message. Skype uses 1024 bit RSA to negotiate symmetric AES keys. User public keys are certified by the Skype server at login using 1536 or 2048-bit RSA certificates.

How does Skype ensure that the user records (stored in the peer-to-peer network) cannot be tampered?
All profile data in the public directory is digitally signed.