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TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

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Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#81

Post by pseudalopex »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #78
pseudalopex wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If it's just to prove those two words wrong, then this repo seems extremely overblown. "It works like every other program in the world" isn't very exploity. The FAQ author explained it worked like every other program in the world. Some people doubted him because why wouldn't he show proof if it was so easy? The tool author called it a very simple tool and no rocket science whatsoever. > Also I don't think many peop…

> The FAQ author explained it worked like every other program in the world. Some people doubted him because why wouldn't he show proof if it was so easy? The tool author called it a very simple tool and no rocket science whatsoever. The repo overall makes it sound like it's a way bigger issue than that.

> The repo overall makes it sound like it's a way bigger issue than that.

The repo overall contains a tool the author said 3x was simple or not rocket science, an explanation of what the tool does, and someone else's FAQ about the context.

Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#82

Post by Dylan16807 »

pseudalopex wrote: post #81
Dylan16807 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The FAQ author explained it worked like every other program in the world. Some people doubted him because why wouldn't he show proof if it was so easy? The tool author called it a very simple tool and no rocket science whatsoever. The repo overall makes it sound like it's a way bigger issue than that.

> The repo overall makes it sound like it's a way bigger issue than that. The repo overall contains a tool the author said 3x was simple or not rocket science, an explanation of what the tool does, and someone else's FAQ about the context.

It comes across as a rebuttal to any and all claims of security, not just the phrase "physical access".

Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#83

Post by rbits »

soganess wrote: post #75
poisonborz wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is the feature everybody wants. Not in Windows, not from Microsoft, probably not yet, but it is so obvious and useful that I'm sure this will be a default thing for a future human. Imagine never forgetting anything. That tune, what your spouse told you to get, a meeting summary, recall or replay a dear memory. People _without_ this ability would be outliers and strangely left behind. I know there was a B…

I agree that it will super useful and can't wait for the OSS version of it on Linux that respects my privacy but only kinda does the same thing with a less useful LLM at its core. That said, I wonder if general folks will see the toggling of this is the same way they initially did for incognito mode? Namely, that you would only use it to watch porn or do something nefarious. The classic "If you don't have anything to…

I mean, there's already software to record your screen for companies. Getting access to recall would be the same as installing tracking software, which they can and do already use

Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#84

Post by pseudalopex »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #82
pseudalopex wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The repo overall makes it sound like it's a way bigger issue than that. The repo overall contains a tool the author said 3x was simple or not rocket science, an explanation of what the tool does, and someone else's FAQ about the context.

It comes across as a rebuttal to any and all claims of security, not just the phrase "physical access".

The idea the FAQ and tool were created to rebut the physical access claim only was a straw man you created. You said the claim remote access is possible confused you. lolinder explained it.

The repo demonstrated the FAQ's claims and gave people a tool to inspect the databases. Any other interpretation is your problem.

Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#85

Post by gmuslera »

lolinder wrote: post #19

Security aside, I'm genuinely unsure what problem Recall is even meant to solve. Like most AI products and features announced over the past 18 months, it feels like a bunch of product people got into a meeting where they looked at the capabilities of the latest OpenAI model and then started spitballing feature ideas based not on user needs but on what GPTs can do. "Oh, these models can do OCR... why don't we screensh…

You are pointing to the wrong set of users there. It is not that PC user the one that will use that information, but something somewhere upwards in the "security" food chain. Those are the users for which that feature is intended to.

Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#86

Post by zdragnar »

rebolek wrote: post #22
lolinder wrote: post #19

Security aside, I'm genuinely unsure what problem Recall is even meant to solve. Like most AI products and features announced over the past 18 months, it feels like a bunch of product people got into a meeting where they looked at the capabilities of the latest OpenAI model and then started spitballing feature ideas based not on user needs but on what GPTs can do. "Oh, these models can do OCR... why don't we screensh…

> What would you do with this feature if you had it? I would disable it.

I trust that disabling it will disable interacting with it. I'm less convinced that it will disable the collection of the data, especially given the occasional stories of updates changing people's settings.

Instead, I'm going back to Linux for everything but gaming. Nothing of any actual import will happen in Windows. My most recent purchase i left as a plain, single boot windows setup to see if WSL was all that it was cracked up to be.

I thought I'd finally accepted that it wasn't as unpleasant as I anticipated, but there's gotta be a line in the sand somewhere.

Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#87

Post by parpfish »

pseudalopex wrote: post #53
planb wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When do you have a password in plain sight? On the other hand, a key logger that extracts the passphrase for my password manager and steals the database file of it would be a disaster. I’d rather have an attacker browse through years of screenshots.

> When do you have a password in plain sight? When I generate a new password.

Or when you click the little eye icon to show you a password when you’re typing it in or looking at it in your password manager

Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#88

Post by oefrha »

wvenable wrote: post #26
planb wrote: post #14

I understand that this feature is highly controversial and I myself have mixed feelings about it. But I don’t understand what is being “pwned” here: isn’t providing a photographic memory of everything you do on your PC exactly what this is supposed to do? Yes, you can access the data through other means than the official UI - this is the case for every software that runs on my PC.

Yes, this is what Raymond Chen calls being on the other side of the airtight hatchway. Once you're admin, you can do anything. You can install keyloggers, install remote access tools, etc. The only thing that Recall enables is that it creates this data. And since the data exists, it can be stolen. Data that doesn't exist cannot be stolen.

Previously, malware/stalkerware can monitor anything after they’re installed. They don’t get much if they’re purged quickly.

Now, immediate treasure trove upon installation. No matter how quickly you catch it.

There’s a fairly substantial difference here.

Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#89

Post by fancy_pantser »

lolinder wrote: post #19

Security aside, I'm genuinely unsure what problem Recall is even meant to solve. Like most AI products and features announced over the past 18 months, it feels like a bunch of product people got into a meeting where they looked at the capabilities of the latest OpenAI model and then started spitballing feature ideas based not on user needs but on what GPTs can do. "Oh, these models can do OCR... why don't we screensh…

Limitless aka Rewind has been doing it for a while, starting on macOS and expanding: https://www.rewind.ai

I gave it a shot for a few months and it was useful to go back to catch things that I couldn't quite recall. It was handy to ask it things instead of doing direct search sometimes. It was helpful for work, where I tend to take notes on things but never review them because of their volume (and SNR). I wound up uninstalling it because it was not the 'superpower' they alluded to in the marketing material, but it was interesting nonetheless. I also whipped up my own version using Ollama to provide access to a decent LLM (Command-R) on my LAN, recording screenshots, text, and transcripts to LanceDB so I could do combined search by vector and keyword and then re-rank. Also a fun project to learn from, but not that useful in the end.

Re: TotalRecall: Extracts and displays data from the Windows 11 Recall feature

#90

Post by JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B »

whalesalad wrote: post #77
1234554321a wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment got downvoted because you’re about to watch a racist and problematic movie.

Uhh. What? I've never heard that before in my life. What am I missing?

Never heard of that theory either. Enjoy the movie, it’s a good one.
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