Windows Recall is too risky for your PC. I can’t recommend it
Microsoft’s controversial Windows reminder has now been generally released, and it presents as much risk for your privacy as it could be a boon for your productivity.
The recall is only one of the many new features that have or will arrive on Copilot + PC, said Microsoft on Friday. Remember, the improved semantic search for Windows, live legends, the co-creator and the image creator and the restyle image on photos are now all available for Copilot + PCs which include Qualcomm Snapdragon processors as well as PCs with qualifying AMD and Intel processors. Some features – Click on to do, live legends and voice access – are available for Copilot + PC running on Snapdragon, but the support of AMD and Intel fleas is not entirely available.
For Microsoft, the publication of these features fueled by AI is a cause of celebration, finally offering the promises of a world powered by AI that the company made a year ago. But in the weeks and months which followed that Microsoft announced the recall for the first time, a darker side of its potential appeared.
Now, the recall and its recorded snapshots provide a recording of information that could be used against you. Fortunately, Microsoft did not avoid allowing you to completely delete the recall, completely deleting these recorded recordings.
It is also important to put the recall in perspective. Now, by default, the recall is opt-in, which means that you will have to activate it explicitly. But even if you want to use the recall, it is only available for Copilot + PCS, which is a tiny subset of PCs available on the market. It is not because the recall is available that your PC will necessarily receive it. Even the most “modern” PCs, such as the Intel 200 Core 200 series (Arrow Lake), do not have the necessary power to make a reminder.
What does Windows remember?
Microsoft announced the recall for the first time during a May 2024 event at its head office in Redmond, Washington, where the company made its debut on several Windows to come to complete its newly announced Copilot + PC. Reminder was designed as a kind of research assistant: as you head in your daily business, the recall would take and periodically stores “snapshots” of your PC, that its optical load recognition recognition could “read”. (At the time, the recall was not designed to be opt.)
Essentially, a reminder could look for your PC information without knowing the application in which it was captured or when it was stored. In the concept, the reminder premise called me.
Mark Hachman / IDG
Confidentiality experts disagreed, a lot of time. Instead of serving as a useful tool, the recall could store snapshots of information that was not necessarily secure, opening them to pirates and anyone who had access to your PC. Meanwhile, others were concerned about the large quantities of storage necessary to store all this information. Microsoft, Microsoft drawn the recall from the original Copilot + launch and promised to perform more tests. The recall would make its debut in October, then said Microsoft.
In September, Microsoft began to make the changes that users had requested: the recall implementation, and even not installed after a user decided to activate it. But he was still delayed. I went by hand with a reminder in early December, but by then, my position had changed – I found that the recall was a useful tool, but by then, the attitudes of the government with regard to privacy and freedom of expression had started to change. Also at that time, Microsoft opened the recall to Copilot + PC using AMD and Intel processors, opening the way to a final test before freeing it.
Mark Hachman / IDG
The risks of the recall prevail over its advantages
The recall will be shipped as a functionality of new Copilot +PCs, although you should be able to register during the original configuration process. When I tested recall, I had to manually download a new Windows version, then manually launch the recall application, which then made me pass through its configuration process. Finally, I had to choose specifically to activate snapshots of recall and storage. Even after that, the Windows 11 settings menu included a rocking switch which allowed me to deactivate the possibility of fully saving instant recalls or excluding specific applications. (This is always the case.)
(After the publication of this story, a Microsoft representative also stressed that you will have to connect via Windows Hello to access all screenshots. This is true, but I’m not sure it solves the convenience problem described below.)
Mark Hachman / IDG
In relation: What are Copilot + PC? Explain
Even with all these guarantees, I do not trust the recall. This does not mean that I am wary of the implementation by Microsoft – Reminder is protected by Windows Hello, which is both a secure and practical means of locking information on your PC.
It is the convenience of Hello that worries me. I can imagine a scenario in which I am invited to unlock my PC via Windows Hello, which would give someone access to my documents and my emails – even as a journalist, whose legal protections should protect this correspondence. I have major The concerns about Hello have also unlocked a database available for everything I have done on this PC in recent months using Windows Hello. No, I have nothing to hide, but I don’t want anyone who goes through everything I consider private either. You shouldn’t either.
It is my recommendation, then, that you do not let your system recall.
How to delete the recall
If your PC is managed by a business or school, Microsoft says that this recall will not be on this. Otherwise, the reminder “is available by default”, says Microsoft on its recall support page.
(“A computer administrator cannot, alone, allow you to save snapshots on the devices managed by an organization or a school,” explains Microsoft. “IT administrators can only give you the possibility of activating snapshots.”)
The recall can be activated and deactivated via optional Windows features. To access it, type “Turn the Windows features or deactivate” in the Windows search bar. This will display a list of optional features that can be deactivated or on the right -handed pig.
Mark Hachman / IDG
Microsoft should not activate the recall without telling you, according to my previous test. But if you are just not sure, you can check by performing the list of optional features and seeing if the recall is installed. (If this is the case, the “recall” box will be checked.)
To uninstall the recall, you can simply uncheck the “Reminder” box. The recall will not be installed and your PC will be restarted, so be sure to save your work. As Microsoft removes the recall, it will also remove your stored snapshots. You can reactivate the recall by checking the box at a future moment, although this does not restore the deleted snapshots.
Recall is an optional functionality; The other new AI features arriving on your Copilot PC are not. On the other hand, something like the new image of Restyle of Photos does not offer close to the concerns of confidentiality that other applications make.
If you followed our coverage, you will know that I was in favor of the recall from the start. But to the reflection and evolution of global events, I have become uncomfortable with the threat that remembers our private life. Remove it immediately.
Publisher’s note: snapshots must also be unlocked via Windows Hello, which the original story has not specified. This article was initially published on April 25, but was updated to include our video on the subject.
