Gregory's ServerMicrosoft has confirmed that Windows 11 users will not be able to uninstall the controversial “Recall” feature, despite earlier reports suggesting otherwise. Recall, part of the Copilot+ suite announced in May, automatically captures screenshots of user activity on the operating system including sensitive information such as passwords or financial data https://digitalmarketreports.com/news/25091/microsoft-recall-feature-on-windows-11-not-removable-after-all/ Do yourself a favor and get rid of Windows from your life—enough of these greedy companies. #privacy #security
 69 comments
 @leean00@discuss.systems I hadn't tested it myself but you can always give a try WinUtil.  @nixCraft users will just install yet another debloat script that works and looks like crap and continue support Microsoft with their money not even thinking about moving to other OSes and showing MSFT their opinion in the only logical way @alihan_banan @nixCraft Unfortunately, it's true I kept arguing to an IT manager who claims cybersecurity and pushes win11 every time. I don't want to waste my time anymore @alihan_banan@mastodon.world @nixCraft@mastodon.social I'm not going to keep using windows but the debloat scripts have looked and worked great for me in the past   @nixCraft@mastodon.social "now that the drama around it calmed down, we can silently add that feature back in"  @nixCraft@mastodon.social it might be worth it to inform myself on linux and buy and external drive to store my windows stuff in (my pc's only got 512gigs and I've got like only 100 of those free) This feature is a wet dream for three letter agencies or bad actors. It can’t get better than this. What next turns off TLS? I don’t know a single security researcher who will recommend this feature. That was a problem before Recall. Repair people love to look at or copy documents on computers they’re repairing. @nixCraft More than a wet dream for any spy agency. We will call it SpyOS instead of windows. Confirm my choice to switch to Linux even more.  I do wonder how this will fly with companies depending on PCI-DSS, HIPAA and similar certifications where their employees screens might contain sensitive data - even for a brief time. @pr06lefs@mastodon.social @nixCraft@mastodon.social Microsoft will sell them a more costly version of Windows without this feature. No way healthcare organizations and governments will use computers with this feature. But they'll certainly pay extra to not have it.  @nixCraft Still open for recommendation for an affordable gaming-linux laptop (17+" size) (Must not be Linux pre-installed).  @paladin @nixCraft @frameworkcomputer has a 16" laptop and is very Linux-friendly.     @liquor_american @nixCraft of course they will. @aZa1905 @nixCraft My point is they will never allow themselves to lose the EU market, but they won't dare remove the offending feature from Win11 entirely, either--they'll do a separate "for markets where we have to show some respect for users" spin of the OS, and that'll be that. (On edit: to be clear, they won't just do that willingly. They'll exhaust all their legal options in the EU first, because who knows, maybe they can pull it off)  @nixCraft I would if I wasn't gamer. All my other systems run Ubuntu, but for games, especially older ones or online with anticheat, Windows is still required because I don't have time or nerves to fuck around to make games just work. Which is unfortunate because I like Ubuntu's GNOME so much more than stupid Windows 11 today.  Reminiscent of the Xbox One having that built-in camera that could not be switched off or removed or covered up. (...though they did have to back off that one in the end.) @FediThing@chinwag.org @nixCraft@mastodon.social drink verification can to continue  @nixCraft Been using and learning Linux for like a decade now since it became undeniable that MS wasn't worthy of trust and wasn't interested in taking steps in that direction. I still use Win10 as my primary OS most days, but once support ends, so will my lifelong (since MS-DOS 3.2) relationship with MS. Rarely have I seen a company so consistently make decisions that hurt and exploit its users. Enough.  @nixCraft@mastodon.social @nixCraft I am deeply concerned about progressive creators on YT who may be using Windows 11 and may not be 'tech-savvy' enough to be aware of the major privacy issues and alternative operating systems. They've been faced with relentless censorship and attacks from big tech, governments, and bad actors already.  @intelgraphy @nixCraft Dankpods switched to Ubuntu, and millions will follow.  @nixCraft I agree, but maybe it's not easy to avoid MS Windows for many users. OS X only (officially) runs on Apple hardware. Linux is pretty easy to install these days, but has an even worse support structure for many users, and plenty of its own downsides. @nixCraft obviously nobody with relevant insight is in control at the windows division of microsoft  @nixCraft@mastodon.social and this is why I moved to linux once windows 7 lost support. I saw where it was going with 8 and 8.1 and then 10.  @nixCraft yeah this is horrible anti-privacy stuff and I am about ready to finally ditch Windows. @nixCraft Welp, time to make myself do the full swap to Ubuntu. Just gotta make sure Citrix works.  @nixCraft I found this part to be illuminating: "Earlier reports by Deskmodder indicated that the latest Windows 11 update (24H2) might allow users to uninstall Recall entirely. However, Microsoft clarified to The Verge that this uninstall option was a bug." You see, it's a feature, not a bug. But this feature turns Windows into a bug. So... Do you all get the feeling that the uninstall options was there for Devs? And someone forgot to remove it from their project till it shipped? @nixCraft If I remember correctly, they did the same thing (unable to uninstall) with Win10/Cortana, but you could disable it in the registry. Wonder if something similar could be done with Recall. In any case, Recall is an absolute shit show both security and privacy wise. I am trying to be confident that there will be people that will come up with solutions to uninstall or remove this on Github (ironically). This will always be a fight between MSFT and devs but it's hard to say what's possible and not on Arm (as I am no expert). @walterburns I'm sure some amazing devs will find a workaround... just depends how hack-y it is. Which kind of leaves me concerned because the more hack-y solution, generally the less available it is to your average person.  @nixCraft Windows just keeps getting ever worse because nobody screams - "Stop. This is bad". I dumped Windows back when XP was still around. There has been no version of Windows that hasn't been bad in some way or another. I went from XP to OSX to Linux. I've used Linux exclusively for most of the past 10 years. @nixCraft and that, my friends, is the event that starts the year of the Linux desktop. |
@nixCraft How do you remove this crap?
Working anywhere they use Windows you have no choice.