AP Photo

SKYPE has always appealed to the privacy-conscious. From its humble beginnings in 2003, the Scandinavian and Estonian developers behind the service, which routes phone and video calls, instant and text messages over the internet, put much store by encryption and decentralisation, which together make for a robust and secure network. Now it has emerged that the company, which Microsoft bought last year from the previous owner, eBay, has become less decentralised. In the process, its users' privacy may be undermined, too.