Microsoft's all-knowing Recall AI feature is being delayed

The Recall feature is a new addition to Windows 11, designed to enhance user experience by allowing users to search and retrieve items they have previously seen on their computer. It achieves this by taking screenshots of your activities every few seconds and saving these images on your computer. This feature utilizes AI to analyze these screenshots, allowing you to search for specific content using natural language.

For instance, if you're looking for an image of a black leather jacket you saw on a website or a picture you took in the past, Recall can help you find it by analyzing the content of the screenshots. It can bring up the exact moment the leather jacket has appeared, not because of keywords in the filename or metadata information, but because it understands the object on the image.

The data collected by Recall is stored locally on your device and is not uploaded to the cloud. This means that all your snapshots and search terms cannot be viewed by Microsoft and are encrypted on your PC with Device Protection and BitLocker.

In terms of privacy, Recall processes your content locally on the Copilot+ PC and securely stores it on your device6. You can disable saving snapshots, pause temporarily, filter applications, and delete your snapshots at any time6.

However, it's important to note that Recall does not perform content moderation. It will not hide information such as passwords or financial account numbers. That data may be in snapshots that are stored on your device, especially when sites do not follow standard internet protocols like cloaking password entry.

In summary, the Recall feature is designed to provide a "photographic memory" for your PC, allowing you to easily find and remember things you've seen using natural language. It does this by saving snapshots of your screen periodically and using AI to analyze these snapshots. The feature is designed with privacy in mind, with data stored locally and encrypted on your device.

Microsoft has committed to implementing several key changes to the Recall feature following feedback from privacy advocates and security experts. These changes include:

1. Making Recall an opt-in feature: Initially, Recall was set to be enabled by default. However, Microsoft has decided to make it an opt-in feature, giving users more control over whether they want to use it or not.

2. Enhanced encryption: Microsoft plans to add additional layers of encryption to protect the database of screenshots and data collected by Recall. This will help safeguard user information from potential attacks or unauthorized access.

3. Windows Hello authentication: To access the data stored by Recall, users will need to authenticate themselves using Windows Hello, which provides biometric authentication, such as facial recognition or fingerprint scanning, or a device-specific PIN. This measure will help ensure that only authorized users can access the stored information.

These changes aim to address the concerns raised by privacy advocates and security experts, who were concerned about the potential risks associated with the Recall feature's data collection practices. By implementing these updates, Microsoft intends to strike a balance between providing innovative features and ensuring the privacy and security of its users.