Microsoft says it has “listened to feedback” following a privacy row over a new tool which takes regular screenshots of users’ activity.
It was labelled a potential “privacy nightmare” by critics when it was unveiled in May 2024 - prompting the tech giant to postpone its release. It now plans to relaunch the artificial intelligence (AI) powered tool in November on its new CoPilot+ computers.
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When it initially announced the tool at its developer conference in May, Microsoft said it used AI “to make it possible to access virtually anything you have ever seen on your PC”, and likened it to having photographic memory. It said Recall could search through a users’ past activity, including their files, photos, emails and browsing history.
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But critics quickly raised concerns, given the quantity of sensitive data the system would harvest, with one expert labelling it a potential “privacy nightmare."
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[Pavan Davuluri, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Windows and devices says] that “Windows offers tools to help you control your privacy and customise what gets saved for you to find later”.
However a technical blog about it states that “diagnostic data” from the tool may be shared with the firm depending on individual privacy settings.
[Microsoft says in a blog post that users can remove Recall entirely by using the optional features settings in Windows.]
if you want to be part of a botnet in a few years, sure
being smart about it means not using an unsupported os
Or do not connect to the internet. I have Windows 98 SE installed in an emulator… I know it’s a bit old, but I don’t connect to internet. :D
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
haha in fact I was thinking of installing Windows 95 instead, because I wasn’t sure if Win 98 was too new. xD Its all just to play games.
Ditto - that W3.11 install is just because of the Windows Entertainment Pack, I love a few of the games in it (like Pipe Dream). I don’t even know if it’s able to connect to the internet!
if you don’t connect to the internet this feature doesn’t even do anything
I want to give you two likes.
Yeah nah, I’ve had updates turned off for years and have no issues. All I do is game on my windows comp
No issues that you know of.
I monitor my web traffic through my router and my processor and disk activity, I’m confident.