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Giving Windows total recall is a privacy minefield (www.theregister.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Microsoft's Windows Recall feature is attracting controversy before even venturing out of preview.

Microsoft said in its FAQs that its snapshotting feature will vacuum up sensitive information: "Recall does not perform content moderation. It will not hide information such as passwords or financial account numbers. That data may be in snapshots stored on your device, especially when sites do not follow standard internet protocols like cloaking password entry."

Mozilla's Chief Product Officer Steve Teixeira told The Register: "Mozilla is concerned about Windows Recall. From a browser perspective, some data should be saved, and some shouldn't.

Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor at ESET, noted that while the feature is not on by default, its use "opens up another avenue for criminals to attack."

Moore warned that "users should be mindful of allowing any content to be analysed by AI algorithms for a better experience."

Cybersecurity expert Kevin Beaumont was scathing in his assessment of the technology, writing: "In essence, a keylogger is being baked into Windows as a feature."

AI expert Gary Marcus was blunter: "F^ck that. I don't want my computer to spy on everything I ever do."

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The user can then scroll through the archive of snapshots to find what were doing some time back, or query an AI system to recall past screenshots by text.

The Windows 11 feature is supposed to eventually expand to allow users to pull up anything that happened recently on their Copilot+ PC and interact with or use it again, as the system logs all app activity, communications, and so on, as well as by-the-second screenshots, to local storage for search and retrieval.

The IT giant also says that for the relatively small number of users running its Edge browser – with a market share of just under 13 percent, according to Statcounter – InPrivate sessions won't be snapped, nor will DRM content.

Other Chromium-based browsers can filter out private browsing activity but lose the ability to block sensitive websites (such as financial sites) from Recall.

Microsoft did not engage our cooperation on Recall, but we would have loved for that to be the case, which would have enabled us to partner on giving users true agency over their privacy, regardless of the browser they choose."

Industry must consider data protection from the outset and rigorously assess and mitigate risks to people's rights and freedoms before bringing products to market.

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