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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

#341

Post by gnuser »

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…

All the replies ignoring the elephant in the room: three letter pressure. To me such large moves could indicate an event is in the near/medium future.

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

#342

Post by chx »

skazazes wrote: post #215
chx wrote: post #194

This is nothing. An abusive spouse will easily switch it to on. It's very likely Windows will downright push you to do so anyways. How does Microsoft intend to mitigate that harm? Because AirTags worked out just fine: > AirTags have been a tool for stalkers and domestic abusers since Apple launched them in 2021. Police records show that this is a problem, and the legal system has failed women who were targeted by sta…

Knowing you could turn on recall to spy in this way implies an individual with the technical know how to grab a freeware keylogger anyways. Similarly with airtags, you have been able to buy cheaper cellular based GPS trackers for years prior to airtags existing. In the airtag case, those GPS tags also do not alert the individual that there is a beacon following their person, and as such most likely go unnoticed and u…

There is a massive difference between switching on your new laptop and having a flaming big "look how cool recall is, do you want to switch it on? No? Are you sure" versus finding recall.ai or openrecall.

It is much the same with airtag.

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

#343

Post by sgtaylor5 »

... or make a OneDrive-connected folder have an icon that shows, clearly, that it's been taken over by OneDrive.

I'd give a setup option to provide a non-OneDrive Documents folder, that feature would be turned on automatically if OneDrive senses that there is a database residing in the Documents folder (ACT!, I'm looking at you!)

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

#344

Post by godelski »

I don't understand how recall even got launched. No one should have spent money developing it.

Yes, the idea is cool. But even if you trust Microsoft it's obviously a privacy and security nightmare. How many people would install a keylogger on their own system? And then make that keylogger trivial to search through? It just makes windows computers extremely valuable targets for hackers and I'll ban them on my networks even if relay isn't enabled.

Edit: I imagine there's going to be fewer keyloggers developed. Microsoft provides one for you, that's officially signed, legitimate, and won't trip antivirus systems. Attackers now just need to make programs that turn on replay. They can then wait. User sees replay running? They blame Microsoft. Legitimate software is so buggy that it's not going to set off alarm bells. That virus just needs to lay dormant for a week or so. And if the user already had replay running, well then the attacker can extract information prior to their infiltration. Stuff that wouldn't normally be logged even if the user had a keylogger.

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

#345

Post by al_borland »

terrut wrote: post #35

I've been a Windows user since 3.1, but this was the straw for me. They have always provided an OS that just worked for my home needs, even with the creeping privacy invasions in the last update. I've been dual booting for a while and last weekend I went full Linux at home. My day job revolves around being truly good at solving Windows issues, and I will happily continue doing that, but at home I'm still just liking…

If you want Linux isn't "just working" over time, give macOS a look. My dad was a lifelong Windows user and sung the praises of Microsoft's monopoly over the industry. As much as he was disappointed and upset with Borland Software dying off, he thought the benefit of a single document format everyone used was a huge benefit for the industry early on when Word started to take over, and by extension all of the standardization through a single player rather than through actual standards. He always said it worked great and didn't see why he'd ever want to change, or why anyone would want anything different.

He ended up switching to Apple around 15 years ago after a series of bad experiences. He was very nervous about it, and really hedged his bets early on. It took him some time to get used to how the OS worked, to find new apps to replace some that he had used since the Windows 3.1 days, and sort out his workflows. He eventually gave up his Windows VM when he realized the only thing he ever used it for was to run Windows Update.

I grew up on Windows, with the views from my dad instilled in me. In college I tried Linux and ultimately moved to the Mac about 21 years ago. I still used Linux on and off for the past 22 years (and currently have a music server running it). I do find Linux to still be much more finicky than macOS. No system is perfect, but macOS is more of a "just works" operating system than Linux (imo), likely due to the focus on polishing that last 10% of the user experience, that never seems to get the attention it needs in Linux. While I am excited to see what Cosmic has to offer later this year on Pop OS, I'm always ending up having to deal with some level of nonsense, even my most recent install of Mint just last week had a few annoying things where things didn't work, and they should have worked.

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

#346

Post by Aachen »

What the default was going to be regardless, except by now everyone heard of the product to the value of probably millions if not billions of dollars worth of ads (since so many people block them and here we all still read it on the news and ad-free social media like mastodon anyway)

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

#347

Post by RajT88 »

mrandish wrote: post #269
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 differe…

There used to be no option to uninstall it - now there is.

You will still get it reinstalled during a major OS update, but at least it can easily be removed. Before it was a chore to clean up.

I would speculate there is even some way to prevent it from reinstalling during those major updates. That seems like the kind of capability they would build in because a huge Windows customer complained (i.e. realistically, the major check against dark patterns in Windows).

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

#348

Post by al_borland »

lawlessone wrote: post #50
terrut wrote: post #35

I've been a Windows user since 3.1, but this was the straw for me. They have always provided an OS that just worked for my home needs, even with the creeping privacy invasions in the last update. I've been dual booting for a while and last weekend I went full Linux at home. My day job revolves around being truly good at solving Windows issues, and I will happily continue doing that, but at home I'm still just liking…

Any Recs? i've just gotten a Kubuntu image. I am thinking if i dual boot that and SteamOS i should have everything i want covered.

I'm pretty excited for the Cosmic DE later this year. Here is a demo given by the CEO and the design lead. The audio isn't the best, but good enough. This is probably the most excited I've been to try out a new operating system since OS X Tiger. It is being developed by the Pop OS team, but they are making it so anyone can use it, Fedora plans on having a spin, I believe it's out there for Arch, and I'm sure others will have it as an option. Though I wouldn't use it as a daily driver until it's actually released.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHLfsWhDvz0

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

#349

Post by godelski »

infinitezest wrote: post #286

I have a really hard time understanding the use case for something like this. Stuff that I want to remember I just write down or reference something like my browser history or recently opened files. It's very low tech for sure but it works, is waaay more energy efficient, way easier to understand and audit, and doesnt have the same security concerns. I get that using "AI" has a Wow Factor that existing systems have b…

I definitely get the use case. It's naive to ignore that there is utility.

But just because something has utility doesn't mean it comes at high costs. I mean it's a super powerful keylogger that is searchable without technical knowledge. Not to mention that it'll probably fail to LLM type of attacks, which even many non technical people are able to figure out.

But then again, I don't understand why people so passionately store all their chat logs (not just important/memorable messages) and take millions of photos. We kinda spy on ourselves

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

#350

Post by dylan604 »

salt-thrower wrote: post #325
dylan604 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you have the number of employees they do and not have a single non-sychophant employee?

Non-sycophant employees are shut down and ignored once the whole corporate culture has bought in to the hype du jour. If you are the sole dissenter, it can even make you look like a “bad” employee for not recognizing the “opportunity” that the new hyped thing will supposedly bring.

AKA time to leave
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