Five years ago, Skype allegedly set up a secret program to help the government spy on its users.

It was called "Project Chess," the New York Times's James Risen and Nick Wingfield report.

Project Chess was reportedly set up approximately five years ago. That was before Microsoft acquired Skype in 2011. It had less than twelve employees back then.

Skype has previously said it works with authorities, but it denied that recent changes within Skype were due to added pressure from Microsoft to allow easier access to calls.

This also lines up with former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's leaked documents. They show that Skype joined NSA program PRISM months before Microsoft's acquisition.