Microsoft’s Windows Recall feature is attracting controversy before even venturing out of preview.
Microsoft said in its FAQs that its snapshotting feature will vacuum up sensitive information: “Recall does not perform content moderation. It will not hide information such as passwords or financial account numbers. That data may be in snapshots stored on your device, especially when sites do not follow standard internet protocols like cloaking password entry.”
Mozilla’s Chief Product Officer Steve Teixeira told The Register: "Mozilla is concerned about Windows Recall. From a browser perspective, some data should be saved, and some shouldn’t.
Jake Moore, Global Cybersecurity Advisor at ESET, noted that while the feature is not on by default, its use “opens up another avenue for criminals to attack.”
Moore warned that “users should be mindful of allowing any content to be analysed by AI algorithms for a better experience.”
Cybersecurity expert Kevin Beaumont was scathing in his assessment of the technology, writing: “In essence, a keylogger is being baked into Windows as a feature.”
AI expert Gary Marcus was blunter: “F^ck that. I don’t want my computer to spy on everything I ever do.”
Yup, I’m setting up a dual boot when my thumb-drive arrives.
Actually really excited to get back to computing the way it was in 2010. :)
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Yup, I couldn’t have imagined the extent of the enshittification.
I’m glad I can turn back the clock a little on my PC at least.
Actually really enjoying OpenSUSE Tumbleweed… first time on a rolling release distro and so far no major complaints.
Probably would have started with Arch (btw) but I felt a little daunted by the install process. In contrast with my ~2010 attempt, all my data is on a separate drive with automatic backups to NAS — so when I upgrade to an NVMe drive I’m going to give it a whirl.
Nice!
I just want something that’s similar to Windows, regularly updated, easy to use, and comes with proton already installed.