What is Windows Recall?
Recall is a feature that, essentially, takes a screenshot of what is displayed on your PC display every few seconds (approximately 10). These screenshots end up in an archive that can go back up to 3 months (depends on the memory allocated for this function, can be changed in the options). Users at this point can retrieve previously viewed information through an explorable timeline.
An example: you remember that two weeks earlier you saw a suitcase online that you wanted to buy, but you don’t remember what brand it was. You can search in Recall for “red suitcase” and it will find for you all the red suitcases displayed on your PC, up to a maximum of 3 months ago. Or rather, he will find the pages where the words “suitcase” and “red” appear, because he is not able to really “read” the archived images but only the texts they contain. Beyond this limitation of the current model, which partially undermines its usefulness, problems have emerged on the security side.
Security concerns
This feature uses local AI models built into Windows 11, ensuring that all data remains private and preserved on the device. However, cyber security researchers discovered that the data was stored by Recall in unencrypted form. An attacker who gets their hands on our computer, or simply a family member or friend to whom we lend the notebook, could easily access even very confidential information, passwords typed “in plain text” included.
Microsoft’s response to security concerns
Microsoft had said last week which would make changes to Recall to improve secure data management. Proposed changes included: making the feature optional, encrypting the database, and using Windows Hello authentication (biometric login to Windows that occurs through your face or fingerprint). Despite these changes, Microsoft then decided to delay the launch of Windows Recall, to carry out further tests with the Windows Insider program as announced in an update on the official blog.
“We are adapting the release model to leverage the experience of the Windows Insider community, ensuring the feature meets our high standards of quality and security,” Microsoft said.
This decision follows testimony from the vice president and president Brad Smith before the Homeland Security Committee of the United States House of Representatives. Smith emphasized that Microsoft is prioritizing security, part of its Secure Future Initiative (SFI). “Security is more important than even the company’s work on artificial intelligence,” Smith said, revealing that security will be a mandatory component in semi-annual reviews for all employees.
Copilot+ PC features available at launch
The absence of Recall hampers the launch of the Copilot+ PCs, taking away their only truly innovative, albeit controversial, innovation. At the debut we will see other AI functions that take advantage of the new processors such as i Qualcomm Snapdragon or (in July) the new AMD Ryzen AI:
We have explained these functions better in this in-depth analysis and we will soon talk about them again with the reviews of the first Copilot+ PCs.
