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Microsoft will switch off Recall by default after security backlash

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

#261

Post by usrbinbash »

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…

> Why is MS pushing something so hard when nobody asked for it?

Because they bet big on AI, and hardware suppliers bet big on AI-enabled hardware, and so they are trying to find use cases for it.

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

#262

Post by smaudet »

SoftTalker wrote: post #226
nomel wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

It's how it's always been, always. Many here may be too young to remember when many consumer products came with a "product registration" card. This was basically a postcard that asked for all sorts of information, such as your name, address, phone number, birthdate, sex, SSN, marital status, annual income, interests, other products owned, whether you own or rent your home, etc. People willingly filled these out and s…

> It's how it's always been, always.

I don't know, I don't think sending in product registration cards could/would often result in your bank account being drained...

> It's all much more pervasive and invisible now, but it's basically what has always been done.

So you admit it is far worse today than it was before? But the second half of your sentence seeks to disingenuously pretend that it has "always" been bad.

I can be sick with a cold or I can have stage-four brain cancer. People have "always" been sick but one is serious (terminal cancer) one is not (a non persistent cold).

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

#263

Post by usrbinbash »

chuckadams wrote: post #238
rvense wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For tech savvy people, it's a bewildering feature. Why would I want some weird unpredictable AI thing when I've already got filesystem search, browser bookmarks, the neatly categorized PDF collection, and my Zettelkästen/2GB Org.mode doc/Joplin notes? But for non-technical people, of course, computers are already unpredictable. They routinely (appear to) misplace files and overwrite them with previous versions, and i…

I’m plenty savvy and I’d like that AI thing. I’d just like it to be more discerning about what it records, and managed in a way that’s not a pinkie-swear promise to protect my privacy. MS has a track record both long and recent that shows they’re not the appropriate stewards of this data. I don’t even see MS as mustache-twirling villains in general, just incompetent at an organizational level to stand up to whatever…

I can, and am, using a locally running LLM with RAG on my personal wiki already.

The difference between that and Recall: I decide what goes into the wiki.

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

#264

Post by dbish »

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.

I think on the product side it’s pretty straight forward. They saw RewindAI talking up a bunch of traction and people seemingly interested. Someone assumed customers wanted this because of that data, and it’s a pretty easy thing to build, so they went ahead. I am surprised it got past security reviews but I can understand how it came to be from the product side.

They’ll probably think twice before jumping into the fray again with the Microsoft branded Informant Wire (I mean AI wearable) ;)

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

#265

Post by fh9302 »

sgent wrote: post #249
fh9302 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is possible to access to Recall database without admin access. https://x.com/GossiTheDog/status/1798832390070276500

RTA, Microsoft announced changes to the security model to prevent that.

I did read the article. The person I'm replying to claims the entire debate was "uninformed hysteria", which means they thought the previous security model already required admin.

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

#266

Post by fourteenfour »

atribecalledqst wrote: post #260

Maybe a bit off-topic, but I sure wish they'd do this for OneDrive! I installed Windows for personal use for the first time recently (although I use it exclusively at work) and it drove me ABSOLUTELY BONKERS that my home drive was mapping to C:\Users\atribecalledqst\OneDrive. What I hated the most was that the File Explorer just calls the folders in there e.g. "Documents" and "Pictures" without showing the full path.…

Yes, my company just went through a merger and for quite a while we had two OneDrives showing up and it was difficult to tell where the default folders were in addition to being a huge mess any time a file dialog opened. I've actually reverted to creating folders in C:\ to store files so I know where they are.

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

#267

Post by GordonS »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #240
GordonS wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Your browsing history is unlikely to contain [...] porn images Of all the places on your computer that might contain porn images, that would be one of the very top candidates.

Nope - links to porn sites (but who browses porn without Incognito Mode! :), but it's not going to contain actual images.

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

#268

Post by doug_durham »

rvense wrote: post #201
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…

For tech savvy people, it's a bewildering feature. Why would I want some weird unpredictable AI thing when I've already got filesystem search, browser bookmarks, the neatly categorized PDF collection, and my Zettelkästen/2GB Org.mode doc/Joplin notes? But for non-technical people, of course, computers are already unpredictable. They routinely (appear to) misplace files and overwrite them with previous versions, and i…

Why are you conflating being tech savvy with being organized? Only a subset of people in tech that I know have the type of organization you describe. I personally rely on local search for everything.

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

#269

Post by mrandish »

atribecalledqst wrote: post #260

Maybe a bit off-topic, but I sure wish they'd do this for OneDrive! I installed Windows for personal use for the first time recently (although I use it exclusively at work) and it drove me ABSOLUTELY BONKERS that my home drive was mapping to C:\Users\atribecalledqst\OneDrive. What I hated the most was that the File Explorer just calls the folders in there e.g. "Documents" and "Pictures" without showing the full path.…

Yes, Onedrive started out as a pretty useful tool but has turned into a deceptive trojan that tries to force whatever growth metric MSFT managers are currently chasing through a combination of dark patterns (like hiding true file paths from view) and also simply refusing to operate in obviously useful ways which many users want and expect (like not having a built-in way to back up only specific sub-folders on different drives (forcing paying users to trick it by using junctions)).

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

#270

Post by GordonS »

axus wrote: post #113
GordonS wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yes, it's a good way to put it. Though it's worse in some respects, since AI will add "context" to the "contents" too.
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