How safe is IM? a security and privacy survey

The number of interested parties eager to listen in on your online conversations, including what you type through IM, has never been higher. The need, in other words, for secure IM communication has never been greater. But not all IM networks offer the same privacy and security. To chart the differences, CNET News.com surveyed companies providing popular IM services and asked them to answer the same 10 questions. Does your service keep server-based logs of the content of communications, meaning what a particular user sent and received? The system administrator has the ability to configure these types of capabilities. This type of information can also be captured by third-party compliance software, such as FaceTime, Akonix and Symantec.

[C-Net]