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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

#161

Post by amusingimpala75 »

Analemma_ wrote: post #68
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…

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…

Except that before today you didn’t even need admin for access to the database, any process that is allowed to read things could access the Recall database.

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

#162

Post by rolph »

dylan604 wrote: post #93
rolph wrote: post #32

without seeing an actual data file created by recall, i would expect it to quickly become large. if so, i would not keep it on a system drive, when you can store it externally, to be plugged in when the owner feels they actually need recall data, and left physically out of band when its wise to do so

how would the recall data get expanded if it is not plugged in all the time? hopefully you can see while it's not designed that way

ideally it wouldnt be expanded, the whole point is to have definite denial of recording at any time, or a cut off period, such as archiving the system portion after 12, or 24 hours. this saves system storage space, and preserves data for the owner should they need what they were doing 6months ago.

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

#163

Post by barbazoo »

SavageBeast wrote: post #126

In all the MS Recall drama, I've yet to hear or read one single person utter something to the effect of "Wow - great!!! - I've been waiting for something like this for years! This will solve at least one of the major issues I face regularly!". In fact, it seems to me the only people that really want this feature are the ones trying to push it down everyones collective throat. Why is MS pushing something so hard when…

> when nobody asked for it

It's easy to say if you aren't one to benefit from this, but that doesn't mean no one will or that no one asked for it.

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

#164

Post by ragnese »

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.

> And it feels, bizarrely for 2024, that little thought has gone into privacy or security.

No, no. They thought about the privacy and security aspect. They decided that it's better for their bottom line if Windows users don't have privacy from the mother ship. Really, they already decided that way back when Windows Vista first came out and periodically asked Microsoft HQ if you should continue being allowed to use your computer.

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

#165

Post by mikehearn »

SavageBeast wrote: post #126

In all the MS Recall drama, I've yet to hear or read one single person utter something to the effect of "Wow - great!!! - I've been waiting for something like this for years! This will solve at least one of the major issues I face regularly!". In fact, it seems to me the only people that really want this feature are the ones trying to push it down everyones collective throat. Why is MS pushing something so hard when…

I can be that guy. I use Rewind for Mac, which is almost identical to Recall in functionality. I love it, and I've used it frequently to find things that otherwise would have been lost forever.

Most recently I used it to refresh my memory on a particularly convoluted way to authenticate with a third-party oauth system (it involved using an online oauth debugger and curl commands). I had gone through the process once successfully weeks ago, but by the time I had to do it again I'd forgotten every detail. Rather than have to go through the process of figuring it out again, I went back to my successful attempt, watched it, and basically retraced my steps. Rewind probably saved me an hour or two.

My take on Recall is that, like with almost everything, it's a trade-off of security for convenience. I find it valuable enough that I'm willing to make the trade-off, but others might not.

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

#166

Post by oldpersonintx »

Rinzler89 wrote: post #27
organsnyder wrote: post #16

I still don't understand how this got this far. Enabling this in any corporate setting would be a compliance nightmare.

Corporate is never on the bleeding edge of Windows feature updates. They bring security updates first, but feature updates are at least one generation behind, maybe more waiting for Microsoft to fix bugs and doing their own regression testing, plus they get to choose wich features employees receive or are enabled by default via group policy. In other worlds, recall was never making it into any corporation anyway.

maybe 50% of US business users have an admin of any kind who oversees their IT ops

everyone else just gets a laptop, unboxes it, turns it on, uses it, does whatever they want to it

see: any retail location in a strip mall, any mom/pop business, etc etc

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

#168

Post by ratg13 »

ffhhj wrote: post #127
mackrevinack wrote: post #118

make it a separate program that people can install if they want to. if its really that great then people will download it

And how are they going to convince people to be surveilled voluntarily? This needs to be behind a switch they can silently enable in some update, ofcourse.

This isn't new technology. Apple has had "Rewind" for some time, which is basically the same thing, and it's widely used.

The major difference is that it's a 3rd party software, not bundled with the OS, and you would have to intentionally go out and buy it and install it.

Microsoft has just taken it for granted that everyone would want this and then forced it on everyone.

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

#169

Post by pjmlp »

SavageBeast wrote: post #126

In all the MS Recall drama, I've yet to hear or read one single person utter something to the effect of "Wow - great!!! - I've been waiting for something like this for years! This will solve at least one of the major issues I face regularly!". In fact, it seems to me the only people that really want this feature are the ones trying to push it down everyones collective throat. Why is MS pushing something so hard when…

Just go to Windows Central, and you will get a couple of editors shouting exactly that.

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

#170

Post by delecti »

SavageBeast wrote: post #126

In all the MS Recall drama, I've yet to hear or read one single person utter something to the effect of "Wow - great!!! - I've been waiting for something like this for years! This will solve at least one of the major issues I face regularly!". In fact, it seems to me the only people that really want this feature are the ones trying to push it down everyones collective throat. Why is MS pushing something so hard when…

Security nightmare aside, it seems like it would be handy all the time. Surely everyone has had trouble finding a website or document or email again, days or weeks later?
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