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Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

reuters.com

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Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#331

Post by skydhash »

RIMR wrote: post #313
nofunsir wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's exactly this. Development of a feature like this surely started during the WFH craze, where managers could no longer casually walk behind people who had to have their monitors facing outwards. A market opened up, and this is not the only tool for this sort of corporate surveillance. Certain Software Engineers will probably get some time without it by claiming they need Admin rights and that the system messes up…

It's not even only about surveillance. Microsoft also makes Github Copilot. Getting Recall onto developer machines gives them the opportunity to train their AI on how programmers actually program, rather than just using an LLM trained on code. Eventually we'll have programmers with Recall activated by company policy on their PCs, actively training the AI models that will replace their labor. That has to be part of th…

Typing is the least interesting part of programming. And most of the other doing parts have been automated already (compiling, testing, deploying,…) Most of my days are mostly spent reading, thinking, and waiting.

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#332

Post by ranger_danger »

digging wrote: post #55

This is confusing and vague to me, which I believe is exactly the intent. It focuses on security, reiterates that security is their top priority (and we know that this is untrue). What were the security problems? They don't even allude to the existence or detection of any specific security problems. It sounds to me like they're figuring out a new marketing approach, or they're softening the blow by "listening to user…

> What were the security problems?

I would argue there really weren't away, apart from the usual disaster/lack of security that desktop systems have.

It wasn't uploaded anywhere, so the only threat would be from programs that would run locally and steal it, which is already the same for any other (even third-party) program stealing your local files, which they have always been able to do.

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#333

Post by jerk-o »

RIMR wrote: post #313
nofunsir wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's exactly this. Development of a feature like this surely started during the WFH craze, where managers could no longer casually walk behind people who had to have their monitors facing outwards. A market opened up, and this is not the only tool for this sort of corporate surveillance. Certain Software Engineers will probably get some time without it by claiming they need Admin rights and that the system messes up…

It's not even only about surveillance. Microsoft also makes Github Copilot. Getting Recall onto developer machines gives them the opportunity to train their AI on how programmers actually program, rather than just using an LLM trained on code. Eventually we'll have programmers with Recall activated by company policy on their PCs, actively training the AI models that will replace their labor. That has to be part of th…

[flagged]

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#334

Post by skydhash »

int_19h wrote: post #228
sumeruchat wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

You are very lucky if you have a choice of OS at work. In any case, something like this wouldn't be hard to implement on Linux. And if Windows normalizes it in corporate environments, rest assured that other parties will offer it for Linux as well.

I don’t really care in corporate settings. I don’t like to bring personal stuff on my work machine anyway. Most of the time the only thing I keep is a picture for setting up my profiles. I have my personal computer or my phone nearby when I want to do these stuff.

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#335

Post by shuckles »

ranger_danger wrote: post #329
slashdave wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nevermind accessible to other users, but accessible to any 3rd party application that the user executes. A nightmare of a security hole.

That's already true for every desktop application though. All third party programs can spy on all other programs and documents that user has available. This has been a seemingly criminally-overlooked shortcoming of desktop systems and this approach has fallen WAY behind current mobile security practices.

This is not true on macOS.

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#337

Post by skydhash »

kstrauser wrote: post #317
0xFEE1DEAD wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is disgusting. I did not know that Microsoft offers these tools to organizations. I'm honestly shocked that this exists. They'll 100% abuse preview to offer similar features in the future. Over the last years/decade, they worked hard to improve their image in the tech community, and I have to admit, it worked, at least for me. They've just lost all the respect I had for them.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but in Microsoft's defense , those controls are aimed at companies working in regulated industries. They're meant to help those companies prove they they're meeting their legal and/or contractual compliance obligations. For example, if your company works with healthcare information and is a HIPAA "covered entity", your customers will demand to see proof that you're using data loss pre…

You can enable some pretty strict policies with device management and general policies. But actually recording the screen is a big breach of information if the database is not secured.

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#338

Post by 1vuio0pswjnm7 »

digging wrote: post #55

This is confusing and vague to me, which I believe is exactly the intent. It focuses on security, reiterates that security is their top priority (and we know that this is untrue). What were the security problems? They don't even allude to the existence or detection of any specific security problems. It sounds to me like they're figuring out a new marketing approach, or they're softening the blow by "listening to user…

"It sounds to me like they're figuring out a new marketing approach, or they're softening the blow by "listening to users" and then rolling out more slowly, when outrage has dies down ad people will just accept it."

Of course "listening to users" really means "listening in on users". Or just "bad press".

Microsoft does not consult with users before adding code into Windows. Nor do users contact Microsoft to tell the company what code they want or don't want.

Even if they did, the company does not operate based on user suggestions.

The reaction to "Recall" by journalists, bloggers and commenters is not that they think it should be "delayed". They think it is a bad idea.

Microsoft will do as it pleases. As it always has done.

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#339

Post by jordanb »

kilolima wrote: post #263
generic92034 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or you are living in a country where worker rights prevent causeless mass surveillance of employees.

Workplace surveillance of employees became widespread in part because of sexual harassment laws, employers suddenly had to protect themselves from litigation. See: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/r/ro...

That doesn't seem plausible given that "scientific management" is quite a bit older and one of its main concepts comes from an experiment in surveillance from 1927.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect

Re: Microsoft to delay release of Recall AI feature on security concerns

#340

Post by skydhash »

cedws wrote: post #256

If Apple did something like Recall, they'd run the whole thing on a separate secure chip somehow and encrypt the data with a (actual secure) enclave. Microsoft are doing this the quick, dirty, lazy way by just embedding it into the OS. Lack of vertical integration is also haunting them.

Apple is already building the same set of features. But because everything is so centralized (Apple’s frameworks and dev tooling are good) they can do stuff without recording your activities. Especially with so many people using the default apps, and the integration with Siri that already exists.
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