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At Monday's Build conference event, Microsoft unveiled a new AI-powered feature called “Recall” for Copilot+ PC that will allow Windows 11 users to search and retrieve past activity on their PC. To make this work, Recall records everything a user does on her PC, including her activities in apps, her communications in live meetings, and the websites she visits for research. Despite encryption and local storage, this new feature raises privacy concerns for certain Windows users.
“Recall uses Copilot+ PC's advanced processing capabilities to capture an image of your active screen every few seconds,” Microsoft says on its website. “Snapshots are encrypted and stored on your PC's hard drive. With Recall, you can find the content you viewed on your PC using a timeline bar that allows you to search and scroll through snapshots. ”
Call actions allow users to access a snapshot of a specific time period, providing context for the event or moment they are searching for. They also allow users to search for conference calls they have participated in or videos they have watched, with AI-powered capabilities to transcribe and translate audio.
At first glance, it seems that the recall feature could set up a potentially serious violation of user privacy. Despite Microsoft's reassurances, the impression persists even after a second or third look. For example, someone with access to your Windows account could use Recall to see everything you've recently done on your PC. This goes beyond the embarrassing implications of viewing pornography and can actually threaten the lives of journalists and perceived enemies of the state. .
Despite privacy concerns, Microsoft says the Recall index remains local and private on the device and is encrypted in a way that is linked to a specific user's account. “Recall screenshots are linked only to specific user profiles and Recall does not share them with others, make them visible to Microsoft, or use them for targeted advertising. “Available only to users whose profile was used on the device,” Microsoft says.
Users can pause, stop, or delete captured content, or exclude specific apps or websites. Recall does not create a snapshot of his InPrivate web browsing session for Microsoft Edge or DRM-protected content. However, Recall does not actively hide sensitive information such as passwords or financial account numbers that are visible on the screen.
Microsoft previously explored a similar feature with Windows 10's Timeline feature, which didn't allow for continuous snapshots, but the company scrapped it in 2021. Recall also has some obvious similarities to Rewind, a third-party app for Mac that we covered in 2022. Rewind records user activity for later playback.
As you can imagine, recording these snapshots is hardware intensive. To use Recall, users will need to purchase one of Qualcomm's new “Copilot Plus PCs” equipped with his Snapdragon X Elite chip. This chip contains the necessary Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Recall also has minimum storage requirements of at least 256 GB of hard drive space and 50 GB of free space. Recall's default allocation on a 256 GB device is 25 GB, which can store approximately 3 months' worth of snapshots. The user can adjust the quota in his PC settings and old snapshots will be deleted when the allocated storage is full.
As for availability, Microsoft says Recall is still being tested. “The recall is currently in preview status,” Microsoft says on its website. “During this phase, we will collect customer feedback and further develop controls for enterprise customers to manage and manage their recall data, improving the overall experience for users.”
