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Top-level
 I got ahold of the Copilot+ software. Recall uses a bunch of services themed CAP - Core AI Platform. Enabled by default. It spits constant screenshots (the product brands then “snapshots”, but they’re hooked screenshots) into the current user’s AppData as part of image storage. The NPU processes them and extracts text, into a database file. The database is SQLite, and you can access it as the user including programmatically. It 100% does not need physical access and can be stolen. 8 comments
I ponder if Microsoft's engineers are following the SQLite code of ethics, since they're using it in Windows OS with Copilot+ Recall? :D https://sqlite.org/codeofethics.html So the code underpinning Copilot+ Recall includes a whole bunch of Azure AI backend code, which has ended up in the Windows OS. It also has a ton of API hooks for user activity monitoring. Apps themselves can also search and make themselves more searchable. It opens a lot of attack surface. The semantic search element is fun. They really went all in with this and it will have profound negative implications for the safety of people who use Microsoft Windows. If you want to know where tech companies are with AI safety, know Microsoft Recall won’t record screenshots of DRM’d movies.. ..but will record screenshots of your financial records and WhatsApp messages, as corporate interests were prioritised over user safety. And it’s enabled by default. I’ve managed to get Recall working in full on a non-Copilot+ system, without an NPU. Will accelerate testing. Copilot+ Recall feature pop quiz: You deal with a sensitive matter on my Windows PC. E.g. an email you delete. Does Copilot Recall still store the deleted email? Answer: yes. There's no feature to delete screenshots of things you delete while using your PC. You would have to remember to go and purge screenshots that Recall makes every few seconds. If you or a friend use disappearing messages in WhatsApp, Signal etc, it is recorded regardless. It comes up a lot as people are rightly confused, but if you wonder what problem Microsoft are trying to solve with Recall: It isn't them being evil, it's business leaders who are middle aged and can't remember what they're doing driving decision making about which problems to solve. A huge amount of business leaders are dudes who have no idea what the fuck is happening. This leads to the Recall feature. Microsoft exists in and is driven by that bubble. |
Gregory's Server
And if you didn’t believe me.. found this on TikTok.
There’s an MSFT employee in the background saying “I don’t know if the team is going to be very happy…”
They should probably be transparent about it, rather than telling BBC News you’d need to be physically at the PC to hack it (not true). Just a thought.