Skype has to be the most popular and known video calling service out there.
Even though other companies had tried to take over the market share like Google Duo, Facebook and WhatsApp none came close to skype in the number of downloads and popularity.
Microsoft bought Skype in 2011 and made it available on every platform. However, according to the new reports, there might be some serious privacy issue that is plugin Skype on mobile.
Privacy concerns
Reports suggest that there is a bug in Skype’s Android app that has been compromising the privacy of users since January. This bug could have led to a serious breach of personal and business communication
What is the issue?
Android Police reported that Microsoft is shipping the Skype mobile with an option to toggle answer the incoming video calls automatically
This toggle can be accessed from setting explicitly by the user.
This feature was intended toward people who wanted to keep tabs on their baby or pet however from quite some time this option is toggled on and cannot be disabled.
It is possible that this bug could have been exploited by the hackers but there is no report about that for now.
This bug essentially turned the phones into eavesdropping device.
Fix for Skype Bug
There has been no official statement from Microsoft yet, but it could be working to fix the bug. Users also reported that disconnecting both Google Wear and Samsung Wear might help but it might not work for every user.
For now, the only fix for these issues is to uninstall the application and make a switch for Google Duo, Facebook, Viber, and WhatsApp.
If you are loyal user and don’t want to make the switch then another workaround is to switch to the latest beta.
Forum posts insinuate that latest beta has no such issue however it should be considered that beta might be buggy and unstable.