Microsoft promises to radically change the way Windows is used with its Recall function which automatically records everything a user does on their PC. An intelligent history as fascinating as it is disturbing.
The major conference season is in full swing this spring of 2024 among the American digital giants. Thus, a few days after Google I/O (see our article), and a few weeks before Apple’s WWDC – Worldwide Developers Conference, the great developer mass which will be held from June 10 to 14 -, Microsoft, Microsoft has kicked off its Build series on Monday, May 20 with a special event that was surprisingly not streamed online. Entitled Surface Event, it was dedicated to the brand’s new computers, but not only because there was also a lot of talk about the future of Windows and AI, the new leitmotif of tech players in general and of Microsoft in particular since the the advent of ChatGPT and other generative systems. And among the many announcements, a new function particularly caught the attention of observers because it promises a profound change in the daily use of our computers: Recall.
Microsoft Recall: a super intelligent history
Behind this name – which literally means Reminder – hides a new kind of tool combining memory and artificial intelligence. Its principle is relatively simple: with Recall, Windows automatically and permanently records everything you do on your PC in order to help you find what you want, when you want it. A kind of “time machine” powered by AI to adapt to your habits and your specific needs.
According to the official Microsoft press releaseRecall is the ideal response to “one of the problems we all encounter on a daily basis – finding a file, an email, a website on our PC, but not knowing where to start looking.” In practice, the tool records all of a user’s activities under Windows, including the applications they launch, the documents they open, the sites they consult, the messages they read, the actions they take. he even carries out the video meetings in which they participate. To do this, Recall takes screenshots at regular intervals, and everything is analyzed by the AI which is responsible for sorting and indexing the information to catalog it according to different criteria.
Then, everything is ready to carry out more or less precise searches and instantly find information or a document in the mass of data thus accumulated, either through a timeline or via a query field, using if necessary the suggestions of AI. In short, Recall presents itself as a super history capable of memorizing and analyzing months of use to unearth any past information on demand, whether in an email exchange, a meeting or on a website. A magical function that goes much further than Windows automatic backup or Apple’s famous Time Machine which simply copies files to a rescue disk.
Even better, Recall does all this automatically, transparently, but also and above all, locally. In its presentation, Microsoft specifies that everything is done directly on the PC, without sending data to its servers. And securely, with data encryption. “Recall uses the advanced processing capabilities of Copilot+ PC to take images of your active screen every few seconds”the company says on its website. “Snapshots are encrypted and saved to your PC’s hard drive. You can use Recall to locate content you viewed on your PC using search or on a timeline that lets you scroll through your snapshots .”
Microsoft Recall: a powerful but worrying tool
The first question that arises concerns the hardware and software requirements of Recall. According to Microsoft’s statements, the tool will rely on the AI engine integrated into new PCs conforming to the Copilot+ label, detailed at the same conference. And it will be integrated into a future version of Windows. We can already conclude that current computers will therefore not all be able to benefit from it, to the extent that the Copilot+ “certification” will require having a powerful NPU – a computing unit dedicated to AI – and at least 16 GB of RAM. Furthermore, according to the analysis ofArsTechinca, even encrypted and compressed, Recall recordings will occupy a significant amount of space on the disk – the SSD, because there is no longer really a question of using a PC with a hard disk today! –, i.e. approximately 10% of the total capacity: 25 GB on a 256 GB disk for three months of recording. We will have to wait for further clarification from Microsoft to learn more about these requirements, which could exclude a good number of computers, including recent models currently on sale.
If the intention is laudable – who has never wasted time finding information on their computer? – and the innovative principle, the very operation of Recall poses several problems, already raising concerns among several observers. Apart from considerations related to the material, we can wonder about respect for privacy and the data thus collected. What about the passwords that appear on the screen, when connecting to a service, for example, or the consultation of strictly confidential or even intimate data, during private exchanges.
Because even if Microsoft swears that the information remains encrypted and stored locally and is not shared with anyone, what will prevent a curious person or a hacker with access to a computer from consulting it? And what guarantees that the recordings will remain strictly confidential in the future? We know that Microsoft likes to collect its users’ data for analysis purposes – as evidenced by the numerous Windows settings authorizing the harvesting of information -, and the history of computing and the Internet is full of examples of companies having changed their policy after the launch of a product or service. Some critical minds do not hesitate to evoke the famous dystopian series Black Mirror, in particular the episode where all individuals were equipped with a chip permanently recording their lives.
Fortunately, it seems that Recall can be configured and even completely deactivated, to confine itself to certain registers (document applications, sites, etc.) or not record anything at all, like other tools of the same type like Rewind or Recall Memory on macOS. In any case, it is advisable to wait before forming an opinion. Microsoft has not indicated a release date for Recall, confining itself to saying that the tool is still being tested.