Skype denies traffic snooping moves

Skype has denied reports it is changing its architecture to facilitate easier surveillance of communications over the company's voice and video calling service by US authorities.

The fears were prompted after Skype unveiled plans to move its 'supernodes' — which act as relay stations and proxies for users on the peer-to-peer communications network — to Amazon Web Services infrastructure and ultimately to data centres operated by its new parent company, Microsoft.

But chief development and operations officer, Mark Gillett, said in a blog post that the move was not made to provide police and security agencies with easier access to users' communications. Instead, he said the transition to cloud-based supernodes — which began well before Microsoft acquired the company last year — was aimed at increasing reliability and improving user experience.