"It's all being done locally," says Microsoft, assuring the crowd that it is definitely, most certainly not spyware.

Why such a pessimistic outlook, you might ask? Well, it's all thanks to Recall, Microsoft's newly unveiled upcoming feature for Copilot+PCs, which, at least on the surface, seems like the most Orwellian technology one can imagine, taking digital surveillance to a whole another level.

Presented at Microsoft Build 2024, Recall is described as a "photographic memory" for your PC, making local Windows searches much faster by constantly taking screenshots of everything you do. Then it uses, no surprises here, generative AI along with the NPU to process all this data into a searchable timeline, enabling one to access and view everything you've done on your computer. If Recall is enabled, any app, website, document, or email you have opened on the computer will be accessible through the created timeline.

Correctly predicting the community's backlash to a feature that quite literally promises to monitor everything they do, Microsoft assured the crowd that it is definitely, most certainly not spyware and that the screenshots would stay locally on their PCs. Furthermore, users will be able to prevent Recall from capturing screenshots of certain apps or websites and can even disable the feature entirely. "You are always in control with privacy you can trust," says the official announcement.

Assuming it is true, one concern that still comes to mind and has been raised by the community is what happens if a bad actor gains access to a local device. After all, Microsoft is not invincible and immune to data breaches, who's to say it is impossible for a hacker to steal users' Recall timelines and gain easy access to personal files and materials?

Another concern revolves around Recall's "generative AI" part, with some users fearing their personal data might be utilized without consent to train the company's AI models, a scenario that is, once again, not that far-fetched, considering the questionable practices employed by many developers to train their AIs. One way or another, only Microsoft knows Recall's true intentions, and Microsoft is not telling. It's on each of us to decide whether to trust the company, switch to a different OS, or find a middle ground.

What do you think about Recall? Is it a useful tool or an AI-powered spyware? What does a feature like Recall mean for the future of technology? Share your opinion in the comments!

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