Bonum Certa Men Certa

How I Learned that Skype is a Spy Campaign (My Personal Story) -- by Yuval Levental

Guest post by Yuval Levental as part of the Skype is Spy Campaign

Skype



Summary: Skype is now tracking serial numbers, too

I first discovered Linux when I was 13 years old, and was amazed by it. I really enjoyed the freedom, security, and customizability. I only used Microsoft Windows when I didn't have an alternative.



"I felt like they were watching my actions, and reading more about this issue confirmed my thoughts."Last year, when I bought the current laptop I am using, it came with Windows 10 installed on it. I figured I would partition the hard drive in half and install Linux on one half, to see which operating system I would use the most. As it turned out, I would use Linux almost all the time without any extra effort. There was one exception, and that was Skype, which I used to video chat with some people on. However, one day, I tried changing my password, but that didn't work. I even tried uninstalling and reinstalling Skype a few times, and for some reason that still didn't work.

Many hours later, I found that changing the assigned virtual serial number finally let me log in to Skype. However, the hassle was immense, and I was shocked that Skype would be tracking my serial number. I felt like they were watching my actions, and reading more about this issue confirmed my thoughts.

This was the last time I ever used Windows 10 for personal use. Shortly after, I decided to finally fully switch to Linux. I hope that many people in the future will also switch to Linux, as Linux is far more advanced and potentially user-friendly than it was even just a few years ago. There is no better time than now to switch to Linux.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Topics We Lacked Time to Cover
Due to a Microsoft event (an annual malware fest for lobbying and marketing purposes) there was also a lot of Microsoft propaganda
EPO Education: Workers Resort to Legal Actions (Many Cases) Against the Administration
At the moment the casualties of EPO corruption include the EPO's own staff
 
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 22, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, November 22, 2024
Gemini Links 23/11/2024: 150 Day Streak in Duolingo and ICBMs
Links for the day
Links 22/11/2024: Dynamic Pricing Practice and Monopoly Abuses
Links for the day
Microsofters Try to Defund the Free Software Foundation (by Attacking Its Founder This Week) and They Tell People to Instead Give Money to Microsoft Front Groups
Microsoft people try to outspend their critics and harass them
[Meme] EPO for the Kids' Future (or Lack of It)
Patents can last two decades and grow with (or catch up with) the kids
Gemini Links 22/11/2024: ChromeOS, Search Engines, Regular Expressions
Links for the day
This Month is the 11th Month of This Year With Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (So Far It's Happening Every Month This Year, More Announced Hours Ago)
Now they even admit it
Links 22/11/2024: Software Patents Squashed, Russia Starts Using ICBMs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, November 21, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, November 21, 2024
Gemini Links 21/11/2024: Alphabetising 400 Books and Giving the Internet up
Links for the day
Links 21/11/2024: TikTok Fighting Bans, Bluesky Failing Users
Links for the day
Links 21/11/2024: SpaceX Repeatedly Failing (Taxpayers Fund Failure), Russian Disinformation Spreading
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Earned Two More Honorary Doctorates Last Month
Two more doctorate degrees
KillerStartups.com is an LLM Spam Site That Sometimes Covers 'Linux' (Spams the Term)
It only serves to distract from real articles
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, November 20, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, November 20, 2024