Skype Shuts Down Today, Users Have Until January 2026 To Export Data - 1

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Skype Shuts Down Today, Users Have Until January 2026 To Export Data

  • Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The communication platform Skype, owned by Microsoft, officially shuts down today, May 5, after 22 years on the market. Users will no longer be able to use the platform to connect with friends and acquaintances, but they have until January 2026 to recover and export their Skype chat data.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • Skype shuts down after 22 years on the market, affecting free and paid users.
  • Users can recover data through Microsoft Teams and will be able to export it until January 2026.
  • Microsoft is encouraging people to join Teams and get access to similar features

Microsoft announced in February that it would retire Skype—launched in 2003—and end support for the platform this week. The tech giant, which acquired Skype in 2011, has encouraged users to switch to its Teams platform, which offers similar features and allows users to access their Skype data.

“In May 2025, Skype will be retired,” stated the document. “Skype users will have the option to move to Microsoft Teams Free, which offers many of the same core features and more.”

Users who don’t want to use Teams but still want access to their Skype data—and haven’t exported their information yet—can do so through Microsoft Teams until January 2026.

This has been a frequently asked question, recently clarified by official advisors in the Microsoft Community forum and updated this past Sunday.

“You can migrate your Skype data to Microsoft Teams Free after May 5th, 2025. Your Skype data will be available until January 2026 for you to export or delete,” wrote independent advisor John Jefferson Doyon. “Just keep in mind that while your Skype data will remain accessible in Teams Free until January 2026, Skype itself will stop working gradually after May 5, 2025.”

Users can still chat with other Skype users through Teams Free by logging in with their Skype credentials, but this feature is rolling out gradually and may not be available to all users yet.

The change affects both paid and free users. Microsoft announced that many features—such as Skype Credit, Skype Number, and the Skype Dial Pad—will no longer be renewed or extended within Skype. Only Skype for Business will continue temporarily.

According to Al Jazeera , the decision comes after Skype lost popularity to other communication platforms like Zoom and WhatsApp, despite having reached over 300 million users in 2010. Last year, Skype was used to distribute a dangerous RAT malware and served as a tool in cyberattacks .

Dating App Raw Exposes User Data, Including Location and Sexual Preferences - 2

Image by Jonas Leupe, from Unsplash

Dating App Raw Exposes User Data, Including Location and Sexual Preferences

  • Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
  • Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

Raw app leaked user locations and personal data due to a major security flaw, raising concerns over its new AI-powered relationship tracking device.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

  • Data included names, birthdays, and sexual preferences—no encryption found.
  • Flaw was an IDOR bug; anyone could access profiles via browser.
  • Raw hasn’t undergone independent security audits despite the exposure.

A serious security flaw in dating app Raw exposed users’ personal and location data to anyone online, as first revealed by TechCrunch . The exposed data revealed users’ names, birthdates, sexual preferences, and exact GPS coordinates allowing location tracking down to street-level.

Raw launched in 2023 reached more than 500,000 downloads while it encourages users to build genuine relationships by requiring daily selfie uploads.

TechCrunch notes that this week, the company also announced a wearable device, the Raw Ring, claiming it can monitor a partner’s heart rate and offer AI-generated insights, potentially to spot cheating.

Despite claims of using end-to-end encryption, TechCrunch found no such protections. Their analysis showed that user data could be accessed freely through a browser using a known web address.

“All previously exposed endpoints have been secured, and we’ve implemented additional safeguards to prevent similar issues in the future,” Raw co-founder Marina Anderson said via email to TechCrunch.

When asked, Anderson admitted the app hasn’t undergone any third-party security audits. She added the company is still investigating and will “submit a detailed report to the relevant data protection authorities under applicable regulations.”

TechCrunch explains that this type of vulnerability found is known as an insecure direct object reference (IDOR)—a common but dangerous bug. This occurs when the app uses easily guessable identifiers, like numbers or file names, to control access to data.

For example, if a user’s profile is accessed by a URL with a number at the end (like /profile/123), an attacker could change that number to view someone else’s profile (e.g., /profile/124). Without proper security checks, they can exploit this and access or modify data they shouldn’t have access to.

The security researchers at TechCrunch detected the flaw through a test with simulated data and location which revealed the leak in just a few minutes. The flaw enabled users to access profiles by modifying a single number in the application’s web address before developers fixed the issue.

Despite the fix, concerns remain over Raw’s data practices and its new device’s potential for invasive surveillance.