this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2024

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A PR disaster: Microsoft has lost trust with its users, and Windows Recall is the straw that broke the camel's back (www.windowscentral.com)

submitted 5 months ago by lemmee_in@lemm.ee to c/technology@lemmy.world

481 comments fedilink hide all child comments

It's a nightmare scenario for Microsoft. The headlining feature of its new Copilot+ PC initiative, which is supposed to drive millions of PC sales over the next couple of years, is under significant fire for being what many say is a major breach of privacy and security on Windows. That feature in question is Windows Recall, a new AI tool designed to remember everything you do on Windows. The feature that we never asked and never wanted it.

Microsoft, has done a lot to degrade the Windows user experience over the last few years. Everything from obtrusive advertisements to full-screen popups, ignoring app defaults, forcing a Microsoft Account, and more have eroded the trust relationship between Windows users and Microsoft.

It's no surprise that users are already assuming that Microsoft will eventually end up collecting that data and using it to shape advertisements for you. That really would be a huge invasion of privacy, and people fully expect Microsoft to do it, and it's those bad Windows practices that have led people to this conclusion.

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[–] foggy@lemmy.world 14 points 5 months ago

It's the 1, 2, 3, 4 punch of

"Haha windows 10 EOL is soon and no your computer cannot upgrade 😏"

Followed by the

"We're thinking about.. no? Okay well anyways, we're gonna shove ads into the UX, even after backpedaling after backlash"

Then the

"Listen the security situation is p bad and we're not too sure what to do about it. Lots of internal accts have been compromised. Probably yours too, we don't really know. Shhh, we got big AI news soon."

And lastly the

"Unveiling, the biggest security nightmare tool in the history of connected devices. From the writers of Total Recall and the masterminds behind Ads in your OS comes: Recall!"

I don't care what windows does to rectify this. My parents next machines are either Linux or Chromebooks.

If windows 12 isn't FOSS, Microsoft can pound sand.

[–] riodoro1@lemmy.world 13 points 5 months ago

dumb fucking corporations will still line their pockets with money.

[–] Sibbo@sopuli.xyz 12 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Do people outside of tech care?

[–] F4U57@lemmy.ml 12 points 5 months ago (2 children)

They really should

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[–] mojoaar@programming.dev 12 points 5 months ago

The struggle is real for M$ - recall is a Security Incident waiting to happen.

[–] absquatulate@lemmy.world 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I don't think this will bury MS because they can easily market this to enterprise clients ( if they haven't already ). Recall is a particularly useful tool for any employer that wants to keep track of everything employees do, especially in an age of WFH. They probably figured they can take the PR hit from users concerned about privacy and move on unaffected.

[–] ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 13 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Any enterprise working with sensitive data certainly has to disable the feature. And turns out, that's most enterprises.

I have heard very little, if any, enthusiasm about this. Nobody seems to be excited about it at all.

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[–] peregus@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago (6 children)

Microsoft has already taken a step back: Microsoft implements drastic changes to Recall after criticism

Recall needs to be enabled during installation
Windows Hello is needed so that only the users can view it's own screenshots
Recall database will be encrypted

[–] FangedWyvern42@lemmy.world 13 points 5 months ago (4 children)

And no one is going to trust them on this. They’ve burned that bridge.

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[–] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 10 points 5 months ago

I really hope the damage is done. They need to be knocked down a peg. This all should have been done first. Whoever thought this was a good idea is horrible.

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[–] NutWrench@lemmy.world 9 points 5 months ago

Microsoft lost my trust a long time ago. For the last 10-15 years, my only relationship with them is, "how much sh*t am I willing to put up with before I switch to something else?"

And CoPilot/Recall was the breaking point.

[–] beefbot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 5 months ago

Linux!: Had set It up years ago when it was a slog. Came back recently after Windows did this— and it was so much easier.

Work? Yes. The comfort of knowing I’ve put off for one more day the tech ubergods carving my life open? Also yes.

[–] neo@lemy.lol 8 points 5 months ago

Aside from the security nightmare, I'm really curious what havoc the LLM can cause by hallucinating stuff, based on how suggestive a question is asked.

Wife on husband's account: "What dating sides did I visit this year?"
"Here are the 5 most popular dating sides you visited last year:..."

"When was the last time employee X watched porn and on what side?"
...

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