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Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

wired.com

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Re: Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

#101

Post by Novosell »

pipes wrote: post #59
nerdix wrote: post #46

I only have a windows partition for games. I would occasionally use it for other stuff because it's sometimes inconvenient to switch back and forth. After recall, I'm only using it for gaming and nothing else.

I'm surprised by how good proton is at running windows games on steamdeck. Because of this and nonsense like recall and the adverts in windows I'm considering just getting rid of windows all together, I'll just run mint Linux probably.

Can't play League, TFT or Valorant on Linux though sonce they started enforcing Vanguard for League as well.

Re: Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

#102

Post by Analemma_ »

Tool_of_Society wrote: post #87
Analemma_ wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I think this entire debate is uninformed hysteria and manufactured outrage. "If an attacker has administrator access, they can see everything you have done on your computer!". OK? That has literally always been the case? "Attacker is root" is game over and always has been. The original writeup from DoublePulsar tried to justify that Recall is somehow different from other such scenarios, but I found it totally u…

Browser history doesn't show my passwords, everything I typed out and did on the machine. In comparison browser history is nothing.

You’re missing the point. An attacker can only see the passwords in your Recall database if they have root, but if they have root there are (and always have been) a thousand other ways they can get your passwords. There is no new attack vector being introduced by Recall.

Re: Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

#103

Post by herf »

russdpale wrote: post #81
herf wrote: post #58

It's interesting to compare this to the Chrome/Safari/Edge browsing history, which is stored in an unencrypted SQLite database, and tracks what you do for the last 90 days. It's just a bit less visual, Incognito/Private modes work, and some users clear it more often. But a whole lot of the surveillance attacks people imagine about Recall apply just the same to the browser. I think it's the "little brother" casual att…

no it isnt the same, you may know I went to my health care provider's website, maybe even to make an appointment depending on the url, but with recall, everything that is on the page will be stored, not just the url. It's totally different. So the message I sent my healthcare provider that is discussing some of my most sensitive medical issues will be available to read and a record is kept of it... not just the url.…

Yes, but one product cycle and there's metadata (like a background texture) that tells the OCR to skip this page. Or ask your local LLM if the user is talking about medical conditions? If you like the feature at all you can make these things work.

Re: Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

#104

Post by biftek »

herf wrote: post #58

It's interesting to compare this to the Chrome/Safari/Edge browsing history, which is stored in an unencrypted SQLite database, and tracks what you do for the last 90 days. It's just a bit less visual, Incognito/Private modes work, and some users clear it more often. But a whole lot of the surveillance attacks people imagine about Recall apply just the same to the browser. I think it's the "little brother" casual att…

Your browser history doesn't contain screen recordings of what you do on websites

Re: Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

#105

Post by nyrikki »

herf wrote: post #58

It's interesting to compare this to the Chrome/Safari/Edge browsing history, which is stored in an unencrypted SQLite database, and tracks what you do for the last 90 days. It's just a bit less visual, Incognito/Private modes work, and some users clear it more often. But a whole lot of the surveillance attacks people imagine about Recall apply just the same to the browser. I think it's the "little brother" casual att…

Their is a very different scope at the OS level.

Most of us know that the public Internet is based on surveillance capitalism, no matter if we hate it or are just complacent or ignorant.

OS wide is far more problematic and of low value to the user.

Re: Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

#106

Post by juancn »

ydnaclementine wrote: post #76
herf wrote: post #58

It's interesting to compare this to the Chrome/Safari/Edge browsing history, which is stored in an unencrypted SQLite database, and tracks what you do for the last 90 days. It's just a bit less visual, Incognito/Private modes work, and some users clear it more often. But a whole lot of the surveillance attacks people imagine about Recall apply just the same to the browser. I think it's the "little brother" casual att…

Does Recall run entirely locally? I don't think your browser history gets sent out

It does, that's why it needs an NPU to run.

Re: Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

#107

Post by dv_dt »

cybrox wrote: post #11
nerdjon wrote: post #6

Will have to wait and see if the extra security measures actually improve anything or not. However regarding it being opt out… what would prevent a virus from just enabling it on a bunch of machines silently. Sure it would be caught but the damage done and most won’t be bothered to go in and disable it after. Or Microsoft just decides they need to really market the hell out of AI and it gets turned on my default anyw…

It will be re-enabled accidentally by an update anyways.

Or by intent - it seems I was reading about an early proof of concept attack that turned Recall on and hid a systray indicator that it was on.

Re: Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

#108

Post by bonton89 »

nerdjon wrote: post #12
aeurielesn wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doubting they'll even disable it at all.

It’s one thing to be critical of the feature. But this is a pretty cut and dry announcement. There isn’t any ambiguity they could stand behind if they are lying. I would fully expect it will be disabled by default (for now)

They'll just say it is a bug when it is turned on.

Re: Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

#110

Post by GordonS »

herf wrote: post #58

It's interesting to compare this to the Chrome/Safari/Edge browsing history, which is stored in an unencrypted SQLite database, and tracks what you do for the last 90 days. It's just a bit less visual, Incognito/Private modes work, and some users clear it more often. But a whole lot of the surveillance attacks people imagine about Recall apply just the same to the browser. I think it's the "little brother" casual att…

Your browsing history is unlikely to contain personal information, secrets, porn images etc. And if you use Chrome, they get your full browsing history by default.

I get your point, but Microsoft's Recall can capture anything onscreen - emails, personal info, porn, passwords and the like. And it feels, bizarrely for 2024, that little thought has gone into privacy or security.

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