Recall sounds like a gigantic pile of "fuck no". It's crazy that Microsoft just lets some PMs scrunch up and throw out the company's reputation.
TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
61–70 of 98 posts
Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
#62Security aside, I'm genuinely unsure what problem Recall is even meant to solve. Like most AI products and features announced over the past 18 months, it feels like a bunch of product people got into a meeting where they looked at the capabilities of the latest OpenAI model and then started spitballing feature ideas based not on user needs but on what GPTs can do. "Oh, these models can do OCR... why don't we screensh…
I think this is the feature everybody wants. Not in Windows, not from Microsoft, probably not yet, but it is so obvious and useful that I'm sure this will be a default thing for a future human.
Imagine never forgetting anything. That tune, what your spouse told you to get, a meeting summary, recall or replay a dear memory. People _without_ this ability would be outliers and strangely left behind. I know there was a Black Mirror on this, but imagine this to be safe, private, local, toggleable even. Life becomes a book you can flip back.
Humanity longed for this for ages. From written diaries to personal data exports of social networks... for better or worse, it's a natural causation of our life becoming digital.
Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
The BBC quote says "a would-be hacker". I interpreted that as a general claim about windows security, not saying that this particular feature is invisible to malware. They have to break the security of your particular device, the data is nowhere else.
You interpreted a statement about saved screenshots in an article about Recall as a general claim about Windows security even the general public would know was false?
I guess I worded that badly. Let me try again:
I interpreted that line as analogous to normal Windows security.
As a general rule, a would-be hacker can't get to any of your on-device data, Recall included, without a local user giving them access.
So the intent of the statement is to say it's immune to anything else being hacked, like servers. Not to say they finally invented a completely hack-proof system... and only used it for this single program.
Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's more than just browser history. What if the screenshot that is safed is taken while you have a password in plain sight? Companies will use it to check on their employees. Hackers will get material to extort you. "Interesting porn you watched three weeks ago". No need to caught you in the act. It's enough to get access some time later. Abusers can control their partners.
When do you have a password in plain sight? On the other hand, a key logger that extracts the passphrase for my password manager and steals the database file of it would be a disaster. I’d rather have an attacker browse through years of screenshots.
>On the other hand, a key logger that extracts the passphrase for my password manager and steals the database file of it would be a disaster
Too bad that's it's not either or but on top of that.
So they can steal your current and past secrets.
The total package.
Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
> All the publications that are popping up showing that the Recall DB is locally accessible are aimed at all the other Windows users. See, that's the thing. Proving it's locally accessible... Microsoft never even implied it wasn't locally accessible.
> Microsoft never even implied it wasn't locally accessible. BBC said Microsoft said a hacker would need physical access. You can think this meant to hack Recall or Windows.
Right. They specifically laid out a scenario where the data is locally accessible.
So code that proves the data is locally accessible doesn't contradict them.
Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
#66was about to post url myself lol. good thing i switched to linux yesterday
Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
That seems like an unreasonably broad definition of remote access to me. If installing a local program that proxies data counts, then the only true way to make "remote access" impossible is by installing it in a secure room with no networking and where no other electronics are allowed in. How many people interpreted that claim as SCIF-equivalency?
> How many people interpreted that claim as SCIF-equivalency? Basically everyone who isn't employed in tech? This is what the BBC said [0]: > And it said a would-be hacker would need to gain physical access to your device, unlock it and sign in before they could access saved screenshots. Those of us here can readily see that this "physical access" claim is bunk, but that's what Microsoft represented to the BBC and wh…
If it's just to prove those two words wrong, then this repo seems extremely overblown. "It works like every other program in the world" isn't very exploity.
Also I don't think many people even saw or noticed that particular claim. They just saw the part about it saving everything you do to your computer and were rightfully worried.
Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
#68Security aside, I'm genuinely unsure what problem Recall is even meant to solve. Like most AI products and features announced over the past 18 months, it feels like a bunch of product people got into a meeting where they looked at the capabilities of the latest OpenAI model and then started spitballing feature ideas based not on user needs but on what GPTs can do. "Oh, these models can do OCR... why don't we screensh…
Emacs' BBDB had similar functionality (without the AI): https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/bbdb.html
Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
#69I understand that this feature is highly controversial and I myself have mixed feelings about it. But I don’t understand what is being “pwned” here: isn’t providing a photographic memory of everything you do on your PC exactly what this is supposed to do? Yes, you can access the data through other means than the official UI - this is the case for every software that runs on my PC.
Yes, this is what Raymond Chen calls being on the other side of the airtight hatchway. Once you're admin, you can do anything. You can install keyloggers, install remote access tools, etc. The only thing that Recall enables is that it creates this data. And since the data exists, it can be stolen. Data that doesn't exist cannot be stolen.
As you point out though, the data does exist. It just tends to be more ephemeral. There's some question as to whether the ephemeral aspect of it is more feature or bug.
Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature
#70The movie poster for Total Recall hit a core memory. I am gonna need to re-watch that classic tonight.
This comment got downvoted because you’re about to watch a racist and problematic movie.