Open Whisper Systems, the maker of the privacy-focused Signal messaging app, will be helping Microsoft to introduce a Private Conversations feature in Skype.
The new feature will be powered by the Signal Protocol and is available for preview to Skype Insiders now.
Apart from Microsoft, WhatsApp, Google and Facebook have integrated the open-source Signal Protocol into their messaging platforms.
The content of communications on Private Conversations will be hidden in the chat list and also in notifications.
{loadposition sam08}The use of Private Conversations is limited to chat on a single device at a time. The conversation can be switched to any device being used at the time but the messages sent and received will be tied to the device being used at the time.
The encryption will not be a default on Skype; users will have to select it every time they want to have a conversation that they wish to keep private.
Signal has been rated the top messaging app for those who are privacy-conscious; back in 2016, there was evidence of this when the company was unable to provide anything more than the duration of a user's membership after it received a subpoena.
The subpoena, from an assistant attorney in Virginia, demanded email addresses, history logs, browser cookie data and other information associated with two phone numbers as part of a grand jury probe.