#Recall
5 Stories
I Tested an Open-Source Alternative to Windows Recall That Works on Any PC
Arjun Sha
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If you want to try out an alternative to Windows Recall, check out OpenRecall which is open-source and entirely free. It does all the processing locally and works on any x86 PC without an NPU. Keep in mind, the local vector database is not encrypted so that might be a major security concern.
Microsoft Addresses Windows Recall Concerns; Makes It Opt-in By Default
Arjun Sha
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After intense public outcry, Microsoft has finally responded to major security concerns surrounding the Recall AI feature. Users would now get a clear choice to either enable or disable Recall during the onboarding setup. In addition, the Recall vector index will remain encrypted and will only be decrypted when the user authenticates using Windows Hello.
Windows 11 Recall Feature is a Privacy Nightmare; Major Security Flaw Surfaces
Arjun Sha
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A security researcher has pointed out multiple flaws in Recall's implementation on Windows 11. The Recall database is stored in a SQLite database inside the AppData folder and it can be accessed by any program. In fact, another user on the same PC can also access the Recall activity data. On top of that, Microsoft has enabled the feature by default which poses a security risk.
A Windows dev has managed to run the headline AI feature called Recall on unsupported Windows 11 PCs. If you have an older ARM PC, you can run Recall without any issues. x86 users can't run Recall yet as Microsoft has not released the ML models for this architecture. However, you can emulate it via a VM, but the experience is painfully slow.
In a major push to kickstart the new era of AI PCs, Microsoft has announced a new Recall AI feature on Copilot+ PCs. It actively takes screenshots of your PC every few seconds to create a local semantic index. The processing is done locally and the information is encrypted. However, would you be comfortable actively sharing your screen for the Recall feature? We find out.