Evidence gathered by a group of Canadian researchers suggests that China is using filters to monitor and store messages from surfers using a service run by Skype.

Tom-Skype is a joint venture in China between Skype, which is owned by eBay, and Chinese mobile operator Tom Online.

According to the report, Tom-Skype regularly scans text chat messages for politically sensitive keywords and stores them insecurely.

The investigation was carried out by Nart Villeneuve of the Citizen Lab.

Villeneuve was able to view, download and archive millions of private chats, ranging from business transactions to political correspondence.

Villeneuve said that among the captured massages were keywords relating to sensitive issues pertaining to Chinese rule, such as the religious movement, Falun Gong, and Taiwanese independence.

Skype said that the security flaw had been fixed and that it did not affect the vast majority of Skype users outside China.

A text-filter has been in operation in Tom-Skype since 2006, which the company says is in place due to Chinese government regulations.

www.citizenlab.org

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