New Skype feature turns out to be a competitive intelligence tool

Skype's new feature, which reports shared contacts and recommends contacts of other users, could be used for competitive intelligence, said entrepreneur Stever Robbins.

Robbins called the feature "a surprisingly serious privacy breach." He gives the following scenario:

• The user is an M&A consultant. He is negotiating with the MergeMe corporation.
• The consultant receives a call from another company, such as WeMergeToo. He accepts the offer to add her representative to the contact list.
• The WeMergeToo rep immediately receives a suggestion from Skype that he might know the head of MergeMe. He does not know him, but he can easily deduce that they are communicating with the consultant with whom they just spoke on Skype.
• If someone sets a goal, he can make a list of contacts in such a way that he will receive much more information about the connections of individuals and organizations of interest to him.

According to Robbins, deleting the contact list won't work. If someone has you in their address book, the link is maintained. Even if you delete your Skype account, the information will remain for 60 days. At the same time, Microsoft, Robbins writes, has no plans to cancel or limit the feature.

Microsoft's press service did not respond to The Bell's request.

Alexander Amzin