When Microsoft announced Recall, the prime AI feature of its upcoming Copilot+ PC device type, it must have realized the flaws of Recall pretty quickly.
Recall consists of two parts. A screen capturing part that is taking snapshots of the computer screen every five seconds, and the AI that scans and analyzes the screenshots, so that the user may interact with it and retrieve information.
The AI can provide information for requests such as “what did I do on August 25, 2024”, “what car did I look at last month” or “give me an overview of the money that I spend online in the past three months”.
While that sounded useful to the ears of Microsoft executives, it sounded like a privacy nightmare to happen for security experts, rights advocates groups, system administrators and home Windows users.
The initial version lacked proper security mechanisms to protect the database against unauthorized access. To make matters worse, Microsoft designed the initial Copilot to be opt-out. This meant that the AI feature would run by default and take snapshots of user screens from the moment the system was started.
Microsoft apologized and promised to do better. It went back to the drawing board and announced an updated version of Recall some time later. And Microsoft did indeed address some of the major points of criticism. It made Recall opt-in and integrated protections that would prevent direct unauthorized access to a user’s database. Admittedly, Microsoft displays a screen during the initial setup of the system that informs users about Recall and can be used to enable it. It is easy enough to enable it in passing, for instance when you are in a hurry to start using the system for the first time.
Another problem with Recall is that its filters are not working all the time. Microsoft created filters to block screenshots from being taken under certain conditions. Launch a private browsing mode window and Recall will not capture it, according to Microsoft. The same is true for sensitive information, such as credit card numbers or passwords.
The Register tested the latest version of Recall and concluded that the filtering is “good, but not good enough”. Recall did not capture most of the screens and data that it should not, but the tester managed to get the feature to take snapshots of sensitive data with a little bit of trickery involved.
Another test tried to gain access to the Recall database. It could become a high value target for cybercriminals, considering that it contains much of a user’s activity online and offline. Even if there is no passwords or credit card numbers to be found, users may have activities recorded that they’d prefer to stay private; a treasure trove for ransomware gangs.
While Recall protects access with Windows Hello, it is not blocking access if remote desktop software is used. Authentication is still required though.
All in all, it is fair to say that Microsoft is making progress and that Recall continues to remain a work in progress. Unless you really, really have a valid use case for using Recall as a user, you probably might want to keep it off.
My Motorola Moto G82 seems to have a similar feature by which it takes pictures of everything which is happening onscreen as soon as an event has been initiated. These images can be accessed simply by tapping the “Recents” button which is the right hand one. By tapping any of the images the phone will open it as if it was part of the history. There doesn’t seem to be a means of disabling it and the only means of removing the links (images) is to tap the “Clear All” button.
My previous phone was a Samsung which didn’t have that ability. But maybe more phones do these days.
As regards the article, I’ve prevented my Win 11 machine from updating beyond 22h2 using GRC’s “InControl” app. It means I don’t get updates anymore, but I’d rather have that than to have to worry about M$ peering over my shoulder all the time. Makes me sound paranoid I know, but I’m of the opinion that a little paranoia ia a healthy thing these days.
Ask Grok “how to disable automatic screenshots on Motorola Moto G82”.
From what I read, some multiple finger gestures automatically enable screenshots. You can see all possible options.
You can also can get precise advice from some Reddit user.
https://www.reddit.com/r/motorola/comments/uptd9r/never_owned_a_motorola_before_til_now_how_do_i/
“Settings > Apps & Notifications > Notifications .> See all from the last 7 days, hit the 3 dot menu at the top right and tap Show System Apps. Then select System UI and turn off Screenshot.”
I do not own an iPhone, so I can not test it.
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Since I also do not update Windows 11 beyond 23h2, I would recommend installing a limited version of Malware Bytes Antivirus and do periodic virus scans every few days.
Microsoft stopped testing anything in house several years ago. Instead they heavily reliy on the customers to be the testers of changes and updates. They are constantly releasing things that are buggy and broken.
Recall is no different except for that lots of the information it captures is what you specifically set it not to take. Due to how this Recall is workig and all the issues it still has, IMHO -this is all intentional, as they continue to roll out things that are not working as they tell you they work.
Recall? Sure why not, in M$/Google/Amazon we trust, no?
Uninstall/disable the silly thing–my gosh! Lots of directions on the Internet.
And, for those who find snapshots of OS history interesting to the point of intriguing–what better to do with one’s time than go through a number of snapshots at the end of the day–there’s a beautiful open source Recall option:
https://github.com/openrecall/openrecall
Does Microsoft really think we end users are THAT dumb? They tried this with Windows 10. It was named “Timeline,” and was eventually disabled in later builds of Win10.
Now they are trying it AGAIN with “Recall.” Seriously, who do they think they are fooling?