The Microsoft Build 2024 event held this Monday has left behind a controversy that is dividing the brand’s followers. One of the functions that the new computers with Microsoft AI will incorporate, Copilot, seems to come out of an episode of Black Mirror, and presents major doubts regarding privacy.
This is Recall, a new function included in the new PCs with Copilot that will allow the user to “retrace their steps”, being able to review everything they have done with their computer or seen on the screen, to consult or ‘remember’ something that they have done. you have seen on a website or where you have saved a file, for example. This will be possible because this tool will record everything that happens on the computer in the form of continuous screenshots, allowing you to save even 3 months of computer use. It is something like an augmented history of everything you have done with the computer.
The reasons why this has raised some eyebrows are obvious: questions arise about the risks to user privacy that Recall may entail. Microsoft indicates that the log files will be saved locally, without the company being able to see them or use their information for advertising purposes. They will only be available to the user whose Microsoft account was used to activate the Windows system, and will also be a completely optional tool to use.
Not only would you not have to use it, but it is very possible that you will not be able to use it in the first place, due to the high hardware requirements necessary to do so: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite processor, NPU, minimum of 250 GB of storage and 50 GB available.
Privacy Concern
Although Recall, therefore, is only a function that the user can freely decide whether to use or not, the introduction of this technology by Microsoft is already enough to generate concern among the public. And although the use of Recall will probably be limited at first, doubts arise about how the evolution of this plugin could be expanded and optimized in the coming years to become a common tool, entailing risks for the privacy of users. people using the operating system.
Tsarathustra
@tsarnick
Satya Nadella says Windows PCs will have a photographic memory feature called Recall that will remember and understand everything you do on your computer by taking constant screenshots https://t.co/Gubi4DGHcs
May 21, 2024 • 20:32
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If this tool is active and someone other than us has access to the PC, this person could see passwords, keys, our browsing history or private files. Microsoft infers that the files generated by Recall will be encrypted and only available to the user who has registered the system, so it would be necessary to hack the Microsoft account to access this information. Some risk scenarios, however, could be family computers that are used by multiple people at home, or perhaps equipment used in businesses or work environments.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has spoken about Recall, presenting it as a photographic memory tool, explaining that it will not work with keyword search, but rather with “semantic search among your entire history, and it is not just about some document; “We can basically recreate moments from the past.”
Similar programs already existed
Although this tool is unprecedented as a native Windows program, there were already programs with a similar proposal. Rewind AI, for example, is a program released in February 2022 that allowed Mac users to review everything they had seen, written or heard through their computer. Windrecorder, for its part, is an application for Windows that also records all the activity on the computer and saves it in a compressed file that the user can later review.
On networks, the most skeptical users have harshly criticized the arrival of Recall, accusing it of being spyware embedded in Windows, or of serving as a control tool for state agencies. Some media also point to possible risks for journalists, politicians or activists.
