Microsoft has announced that the Recall feature will not be enabled by default on PCs after concerns, including from cybersecurity experts.
This function is not even available yet and it is already worrying a lot of people. A few weeks after its presentation, Microsoft backtracked on the feature called Recall (“memory” in French). Allowing the user to find what they saw or did on their PC using screenshots, it will be available from June 18 on the new Copilot+PC computers.
The company has announced that this tool, which will be optional, will ultimately not be activated by default. “If you do not proactively choose to enable this feature, it will be disabled by default,” Microsoft said in a blog post published June 7.
Reassure in the face of security risks
This announcement comes after a series of criticisms and concerns regarding Recall. Cybersecurity experts who were able to test the function described it as a “disaster”, criticizing, among other things, that it is activated by default. Microsoft’s tool is also in the sights of the British CNIL.
Microsoft announced other changes to reassure. “Windows Hello registration is required to enable Recall,” the company said. This is the Windows authentication system, which allows you to log in using facial recognition, a fingerprint or a PIN.
The user’s presence in front of the screen will also be mandatory to view the timeline and perform searches in Recall. Finally, the company will strengthen data encryption so that Recall photos are only decrypted and accessible after user authentication.
Recalling that the data of its function will be stored on the user’s computer, Microsoft further affirmed that the latter will know when the tool takes screenshots, but also that they will have the possibility of “put paused, filter and delete what is recorded at any time.
