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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

#111

Post by torstenvl »

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…

They're quite obviously very different, as browser history doesn't tend to include things like financial details or information subject to an NDA.

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

#112

Post by juancn »

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…

The ickier parts are on the unintended capture side, like enabling "show password" on a site doesn't affect browser history but Recall may capture it in the clear.

Or from history you may see that you accessed a site, but not what you did on it (what comments you typed for example).

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

#113

Post by axus »

GordonS wrote: post #110
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.

It's analogous to phone call metadata vs. the contents of the phone calls.

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

#114

Post by giancarlostoro »

lordofgibbons wrote: post #21

Doesn't Microsoft have a long history (and present) where they just enable privacy invasive "features" after a windows update even though the user has disabled or removed the "feature"?

Yeah, which is why I'm over on Linux now.

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

#115

Post by buildbot »

djmips wrote: post #52
paxys wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would prevent a virus from directly stealing the data it wants without going through this feature?

Just like in biology a virus can be simpler if it can co-opt existing machinery.

I agree, the ability to take screenshots is unsafe and should be removed. A virus is just a PRT SCRN away from stealing everything! (/s)

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

#116

Post by permo-w »

leprials wrote: post #10
malshe wrote: post #7

On LinkedIn someone in my network pointed out that, apart from the security and privacy disaster, the name Recall was a bad choice because of negative events like product recall.

They should take note and recall Recall.

this is one of the first things mentioned in the article

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

#117

Post by byteknight »

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…

This is a horrible comparison. Browsing history doesnt show the contents of the page. It doesnt show you what you were doing on that page. It doesn't reveal anything other than you went there and maybe how long.

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

#119

Post by meowster »

Rinzler89 wrote: post #54
cybrox wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Please stop with these kinds of made up fantasy scenarios. There's no such thing as "accidental enablement" for stuff like this, as if it's a switch every employee at Microsoft has access to, and one of them one day can end up flipping by accident with their elbow and it ends up in production without anyone else noticing. Either they decide to intentionally enable it or not. There are no accidents , when stuff like t…

I think OP forgot the quotes around "accidentally". You're right it won't be a true accident; it will be intentional and just called an "accident".

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

#120

Post by nomel »

GordonS wrote: post #110
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.

> that little thought has gone into privacy or security.

I think the thought is proportional to the amount of thought a non-tech customer will put into it. Nobody seems to care about or understands privacy these days. Everyone knows they're being tracked everywhere they go physically and on the web. People use their real names, address, etc for every junk service they sign up for, without seeing any reason not to. If you tell people that their TV is tracking and taking screenshots of what they watch [1], they say "yeah, Netflix knows too".

It's literally, "how it's always been" for any non tech person under 30.

[1] https://themarkup.org/privacy/2023/12/12/your-smart-tv-knows...

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