Microsoft Finally Launches Its Controversial Recall Feature:
After a long delay over security concerns, Microsoft is ready to bring its controversial Recall feature out of beta. It arrives exclusively on Copilot+ Windows 11 PCs as part of a feature update rolling out today.
Recall is designed to help users conveniently pull up old folders, emails, or browser tabs that they've closed or misplaced. However, after its introduction last year, Recall drew comparisons to spyware since it takes and archives screenshots of your PC activity. In the wrong hands, this could be used to surveil users, making it a potent target for malware and even governments.
These privacy and security worries caused Microsoft to delay Recall and develop various safeguards to prevent such abuse. It offered Recall as a beta feature to Windows 11 Insiders, and gathered feedback from actual users before today's mainstream release.
[...] Another concern facing Recall is its potential to save any passwords or sensitive personal information that pops up on your computer. In response, Weston says Microsoft has been introducing "application filters" that promise to detect data, such as Social Security numbers, and stop capturing them from within the screenshots. "We have an initial set of filters that we're committed to continuing to update all the time to get better," he says.
(Score: 4, Funny) by pkrasimirov on Tuesday May 06, @10:04AM (10 children)
> detect data, such as Social Security numbers, and stop capturing them
Noted, will put a SSN on my desktop background.
(Score: 5, Touché) by shrewdsheep on Tuesday May 06, @10:41AM (8 children)
You forgot to read the small print: before ignoring frames with SSNs displayed on them, the SSN will be checked against data on file (possibly augmented by "external data sources") available to us or our "partners". If discrepancies are detected, we are forced to upload your full data as required by "agreements" with our "trusted partners".
(Score: 5, Insightful) by janrinok on Tuesday May 06, @12:55PM (7 children)
I cannot imagine anything more damning than this. It actually, IMO, states the real intention behind Recall. It is nothing more than another way of grabbing information that you might wish to keep private.
They admit that their 'partners' already have files containing this data. So they are either 1. doing this at the behest of the government, or 2. have private 'partners' who are actively seeking and saving such information, but without identifying who those partners are, or revealing what they need the information for. You can guarantee it isn't to the benefit of the user.
But as they are 'forced to upload your full data' it smacks of this being done with legal enforcement behind it - so I surmise that it is a Federal agency (and the NSA would be my guess). In which case it is not because "privacy and security worries caused Microsoft to delay Recall" it is because the whole thing was in danger of being uncovered. They are hoping now that they can placate your fears but, in fact, they have just opened another can of worms.
Neither are they refraining from "the collection of passwords or sensitive personal information" because they state that they have filters which can identify such things. It will have to have been saved by Recall in order that the filters can be applied.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday May 06, @02:00PM (2 children)
Trumposoft?
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5090085-microsoft-leaders-meet-with-trump-musk-at-mar-a-lago/ [thehill.com]
all your base are belong to us.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by janrinok on Tuesday May 06, @02:34PM (1 child)
I don't think that this is necessarily a Trump thing, but it could well be a US Government 'project'. Recall was started long before Trump was re-elected so that would suggest that potentially both parties are content with this to continue. Recall was first released in May 2024. It is possible that they had been working on it prior to 2020 but there is no evidence that I am aware of that would confirm it.
I tend to think that NSA/Microsoft have been working hand-in-hand for many years and this is merely another progression in that relationship, but I stress that this is entirely speculation on my part.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday May 06, @06:31PM
You are almost certainly correct about it being a USG project. I cannot think of any upside for the user with this "feature".
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 07, @10:33AM (3 children)
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday May 07, @11:09AM
You will have to ask shrewdsheep [soylentnews.org] for the content of the small print, as I haven't got a Windows installation nor will I ever have one.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Wednesday May 07, @11:59AM (1 child)
Just to clarify: I do not have access to the fine print, this was sarcasm. Unfortunately, this caricature is what "Recall" will come down to, anyways. All countries have laws that create exceptions to privacy laws when higher legal goods are at stake, through threats such as terrorism, treason, or murder. M$ is obliged to create the technical means of retaining and sharing all accessible data no matter what the contract says.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Wednesday May 07, @12:17PM
Thank you for the clarification.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Tuesday May 06, @06:32PM
I will settle with not running Recall.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 4, Touché) by Gaaark on Tuesday May 06, @12:43PM (3 children)
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
Promises from Microsoft. That's worth a chuckle.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 2) by aafcac on Tuesday May 06, @06:16PM (2 children)
That reminds me of that old prank where you tell people the chat automatically censors their password to ******** and just type it in manually. In this case you have no idea if it was really censored and they have to see the number and evaluate it to do so.
(Score: 2) by mrpg on Wednesday May 07, @12:08AM (1 child)
hunter2
(Score: 4, Funny) by mrpg on Wednesday May 07, @12:09AM
OH FFS, now I can't delete that.
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Tuesday May 06, @03:35PM
The only big brother Recall that I seem to remember is one that implants fake vacation memories into your head.
The only way to stop a bad guy with a can opener is a good guy with a can opener.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 06, @07:59PM
Aside from the spyware potential, this is the kind of cruft you end up with with non-technical Leadership.
A brain-fart that is technically impossible - or at least not well-suited to a technical solution. Computers can do amazing things, just not "Solve all your problems" for a monthly fee. And yet, here we are again and again with top down solutions that some clueless visionary wants to offload onto "the tech guys" (who look more and more like indentured labor).
(Score: 2) by Spamalope on Thursday May 08, @06:35PM
Can we get a background static app?
Or Web services so it's harder to filter out, with remote USB input ghosting 'interesting' things as AI bait?