UK puts Recall, Windows 11’s new “photographic memory” in the spotlight

Early this week Microsoft presented Revokenew artificial intelligence experience for Windows 11 through which he aims to revolutionize the way we interact with everything we see and do on a computer. A kind of “photographic memory” that allows us to find anything among an endless number of photos, documents, files, folders, browser tabs, chats or emails. And only in a matter of seconds. On paper it sounds impressive and even magical, but his work is already raising alarm bells about how it could affect our privacy.

Great Britain He didn’t waste any time and has already attracted Microsoft’s attention to Recall. BBC reports that the Information Commissioner’s Office, the body responsible for data protection in the UK, Redmond has been contacted to request additional information regarding the safety of this product.. “We are consulting with Microsoft to understand the security measures taken to protect user privacy,” they said.

This comes just as analysts and privacy experts have begun to question this new Windows 11 feature. Microsoft claims that Recall was designed to work in 100% local in their new Copilot+ PCs with ARM chips, since they necessarily require a neural processing unit (NPU) and the information is stored encrypted on the computer’s hard drive, but the concern was not long in coming.

UK wants to know how Recall, new from Microsoft, works

Keep in mind that Recall runs in the background. take screenshots of everything that happens on your PC every few seconds. This information is cataloged and processed using artificial intelligence to generate search parameters that allow you to find anything using natural language, with the ability to go back weeks or months. Additionally, the tool has a timeline type interface that allows you to navigate through them. pictures.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, was very excited about Recall’s capabilities. The manager assured that a feature of this type can be launched en masse only if it is implemented on the device. That’s why, at least for now, it’s limited to new computers with the Snapdragon X Plus or Snapdragon X Elite chip.

“One of our big dreams is how we introduce memory. A photographic memory of what you do on your PC; and now we have it. It’s called “Remembering”. This is not a keyword search, but a semantic search based on your History. And it’s not just about the document. Essentially, we can recreate moments from the past,” Nadella said in an interview with the publication. Wall Street Magazine.

The criticism was expected

In addition to scrutiny from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, senior officials have criticized Microsoft for launching Recall. Elon Musk criticized Redmond representatives and described this new Windows 11 feature as something taken from the series Black mirror.

Microsoft says that reverting is optional and that it can be paused or turned off entirely in Windows 11 settings. It even offers the ability to delete specific snapshots or prevent them from being taken. pictures from certain websites or applications. Additionally, Americans say that no information collected by this feature is sent to the company or used to serve personalized ads.

Despite this, privacy experts They don’t believe Microsoft will keep that promise forever.. Jen Kaltrider, Team Leader Privacy not enabledinitiative of the Mozilla Foundation, said BBC that anyone who knows your password and physically reaches your computer will have unlimited access to everything you do on a daily basis. Something that could become a problem in the future if, for example, security authorities obtain a court order to search your equipment.