If you're on the internet, there's a good chance you're probably using a program or app that listens to audio recordings without your knowledge. Some of the biggest companies in the world have admitted in recent weeks they've been hiring human contractors to monitor snippets of your queries and in some cases, your conversations with other users.

While it initially seemed to be just Amazon Alexa, the issue is a lot more widespread across popular apps than previously thought. Here's a quick overview of who's listening in when you think it's just the two of you.

A number of companies are starting to have reservations about using real people to “improve” their digital assistants by reviewing what you’ve said to your smart speaker or phone. I’m willing to bet that Microsoft will also soon about-face on this practice, but right now, contractors might be listening to what you tell Skype Translator and Cortana.

Skype was the one of the first applications that showed how the internet would disrupt existing businesses. Suddenly, it allowed you to cut the phone company out of conversations with friends, family and colleagues around the world. The latest preview version of Skype for Web now adds screen sharing support for Chrome. Here's how to get it.

Between Slack, WhatsApp!, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Hangouts and Telegram, I've been known to miss a message or two as I suffer from notification fatigue and forget to go back to an app. Volt aims to end that pain by delivering a single messaging platform that brings a bunch of different messaging systems to a single screen on Mac, Windows and Linux systems.

If you’re deaf or hard of hearing, then placing or being part of a Skype call can be a complicated affair. This week, Microsoft rolled out a feature to make things a little easier: captions and subtitles.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Microsoft stores were stocking various Alexa devices. And now the reason behind that has become apparent. Microsoft has announced that you'll be able to make Skype calls using Alexa.

Skype announced this week that it has added a cloud-based recording feature to its video chat service, which you can now access on almost any version of Skype save for the Windows 10 version. It’ll gain the call-recording feature “in the coming weeks,” according to the Skype blog.

Microsoft has spent most of the last seven years messing around with Skype, integrating it into their existing collaboration tools, such as Skype Busines. It is also constantly tweaking the consumer product, adding social media and other features much to the chagrin of users who just want to use Skype to make voice and video calls.

Peter Skillman, the Director of Design for Skype and Outlook has admitted that some of these efforts have resulted in complexity that has messed up the user experience. So, there will be yet another redesign to simplify Skype.

Last week, Apple rolled back one of the key FaceTime features that was supposed to drop with iOS 12 and macOS Mojave this spring: group video chat. The feature, which would let you and up to 31 friends not-quite-make-eye-contact through their phones and laptops, was removed from the beta versions of each OS last week, and will now reportedly launch at a later date.

I'm a journalist. (Kind of.) I have to record calls a lot, to supplement my notes. When I make a call over Skype, I use Ecamm Call Recorder, a simple but full-featured Mac-only Skype extension.

Skype is one of the most popular messaging apps around, but it's never offered the type of end-to-end encryption that's become standard in other services such as WhatsApp and iMessage.

A significant software re-write will be needed to fix a bug with Skype for Windows. Vulnerability in the application's update feature means a malicious actor can gain access to the computer's system account and grant themselves privileges to do whatever they like. The vulnerability is fixable but will require a significant rewrite with an indication that Microsoft will need to issue a new version of Skype rather than a patch.

Skype is one of the few popular messaging and communications services that doesn't yet employ full end-to-end encryption. But that's set to change. Skype Private Conversations is coming following the announcement of an agreement between Microsoft and Open Whisper Systems (makers of the Signal app).

Atlassian has announced Stride - their new collaboration platform. While Hipchat has been around for a while they say Stride will be Atlassian's core communications and collaboration platform. The company says it will offer a zero-click upgrade path - part of what Atlassian's head of communication products Steve Goldsmith calls their guiding principle: "Don't F**k the Customer".

Skype for Business is joining the Microsoft Teams family, as the company marches forth on their quest to crack the enterprise collaboration nut. While Skype may have started life as a way to disrupt the traditional telco business, it's become a key tool for businesses wanting to connect distributed teams.

With an eye towards the developing world where people are more likely to own cheap phones and have spottier wireless data access, the big names in tech are developing simpler versions of their apps. These apps are lightweight, use little data, and don't burn through battery life. Sound good? It does to us too, and here's how to give them a test drive.

If you really can't let go of the office, even for a drive up the road, BMW has partnered with Microsoft to release the most expensive Skype accessory on the market. Selected BMW 5-Series cars with the Bavarian car maker's iDrive system can now use Skype for Business, as well as Office 365, while in transit.

Dear Lifehacker, my girlfriend travels a lot for work which means our interactions - including romantic and sexual - are often limited to Skype. Unfortunately, the video quality is usually quite poor. Is there a way to improve the video without buying a new laptop or expensive webcam?

In honour of Skype's newest update, the video chat and messaging app is dropping support for a variety of platforms.