This is how Windows 11 Recall has been updated after an avalanche of security criticism

Recall was supposed to be one of the star features of the new Copilot+ PCs announced in May. The proposal was more than interesting. This “photographic memory” driven by artificial intelligence (AI) It would take periodic snapshots of our screen so that we could recover certain information that we did not record in a simple way. For example, that restaurant that a friend recommended to us some time ago.

The problem is that Recall was also a real security nightmare. Criticism multiplied everywhere, mainly from specialists in the field. This scenario led the Redmond company to adopt a “better safe than sorry” stance. As we noted in a previous article, the release of the feature was delayed. The reason? Precisely, address what was clouding its launch.

Recall is updated with an eye on security

One of the biggest changes is that Recall will be optional from the start. This means that users will have to consciously activate it before starting to use it. It will not be a default feature. On the other hand, Windows 11 will allow us to completely remove Recall from our machine. The latter, apparently, is a recent change. Let us remember that Microsoft had ruled out the uninstallation option.

The Redmond company has also addressed an issue that could allow malicious actors to obtain sensitive user data. This was because the snapshots were not properly protected, leaving them exposed. Recall now relies on the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), one of the essential requirements of Windows 11, to strengthen encryption and offer greater security.

Technically, the only way to recover this data is to go through Windows Hello, the Windows 11 authentication platform that can be used with biometric data. “There is a UI application layer that does not have access to raw screenshots or the Recall database,” David Weston, Microsoft’s VP of enterprise and operating systems security, said in comments to The Verge .

The changes also affect the type of information that Recall can store. This feature will have settings that allow you to exclude certain types of content, such as credit card data, passwords, and more. Microsoft has a dedicated page with more details on what they consider sensitive information. The company will also add the ability to delete a range from the Recall database.

There is no clear release framework yet. Microsoft has said that Recall will be available to Windows Insiders, the program that provides access to pre-release versions of Windows, in october. A general release will follow later. It should be noted that, in all cases, the only ones who will be able to use this tool will be those who have PC Copilot+ computers, that is, with Windows 11 and more than 45 TOPS performance.

Images | Microsoft

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