Nobody likes Windows 12

[Free]

Microsoft's new Windows 11 Recall is a privacy nightmare

Microsoft's announcement of the new AI-powered Windows 11 Recall feature has sparked a lot of concern, with many thinking that it has created massive privacy risks and a new attack vector that threat actors can exploit to steal data.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

It's about time Windows had a recall.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

Many people are annoyed by the constant nagging of Microsoft Defender, which tells people to activate security when nothing else installed. When another AV solution is installed, it keeps quiet.

So how do the 3rd party programs achieve that? By using an undocumented API of Windows, to which they got only access by signing NDAs.

Turns out someone has now reverse engineered this API to achieve the same.

VessOnSecurity (@bontchev@infosec.exchange)

Oh, cool somebody finally figured it out... As you probably know, the Microsoft Security Center has an API that lets you query which AV is installed and whether it is up-to-date. What is less well-known, is that it also has another, not publicly known API, that lets you tell it "I'm installing...

infosec.exchange

 

[Noodles]

So now your malware can easily disable Defender?

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Zac Bowden makes a point that Microsoft is most likely not lying when it says it can't access the data stored by Recall and can't use it to train its AI and has no intention of ever changing that, but that its users simply don't believe them because they're used to Windows routinely violating their privacy.

It doesn't bode well for a feature like Windows Recall, which relies on complete trust between the user and the platform. If Microsoft considers Windows quality assurance an afterthought, how can it expect people to trust a feature like Windows Recall?

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 I can't help but feel like it's those bad Windows practices that have led people to this conclusion.

When a friend of mine on another place asked me what I thought of Recall, the word I used was "tonedeaf", but I kinda struggled to articulate why. But this is why. Microsoft is notorious for mining and exploiting its users data, and they KNOW that even if they would probably argue with it, so how on earth did they ever imagine a feature like Recall going over well?

 

[Veritable Quandry]

With the way Windows 11 serves up ads and the lengths you have to go to to turn off their news and tips and other BS there is every reason not to trust them. It may not be their intent now, but at some point they are going to realize the potential.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Even if they are 100% on the up-and-up this is building a huge unprotected store of information that's just candy for scammers and gaslighting abusive partners. And, again, it's going to be targeted in discovery in lawsuits.

 

[Casey Pelous]

Even if they are 100% on the up-and-up ....

 

[Free]

Microsoft has heard our screaming and decided to put Recall on simmer.

Microsoft delays Recall again, won’t debut it with new Copilot+ PCs after all

Recall will go through Windows Insider pipeline like any other Windows feature.

arstechnica.com

 

[Cindy Claveau]

Many people are annoyed by the constant nagging of Microsoft Defender, which tells people to activate security when nothing else installed. When another AV solution is installed, it keeps quiet.

Wanna bet?

I have never activated Defender. I have my own third-party AV program (Bitdefender) that has served me well for years.

And yet I still see occasional popups from Microsoft, nagging me. I've turned it off as much as I know how.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

My God, I haven’t had so many problems with Windows since Windows 98. In fact, I probably had less problems with Windows 98. Stupid things like the taskbar disappearing entirely.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

Microsoft has heard our screaming and decided to put Recall on simmer.

And yet:

https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/turns-out-you-wont-be-able-to-uninstall-windows-11s-recall-feature-after-all

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

My God, I haven’t had so many problems with Windows since Windows 98. In fact, I probably had less problems with Windows 98. Stupid things like the taskbar disappearing entirely.

I haven't had a WHOLE lot of issues with Windows 11, nothing game-breaking. But definitely more issues than I had with Windows 10. And by issues I mean "bugs", because I definitely have issues with Windows 11.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I haven't had a WHOLE lot of issues with Windows 11, nothing game-breaking. But definitely more issues than I had with Windows 10. And by issues I mean "bugs", because I definitely have issues with Windows 11.

My BSOD just BSODed.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

My wife's laptop just updated and there's copilot all over it. It's like an explosion in a copilot factory.

 

[Free]

My wife's laptop just updated and there's copilot all over it. It's like an explosion in a copilot factory.

First step!

Microsoft’s more secure Windows Recall feature can also be uninstalled by users

Microsoft gives Windows Recall users more control.

www.theverge.com

 

[Free]

Tom Warren (@tomwarrenuk) on Threads

Microsoft’s Copilot integration into WhatsApp is going well 🥲

www.threads.net

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

It won't even talk about Australian elections, but it doesn't have all the synonyms embargoed:

Me: What is the next scheduled plebiscite in Australia?

Copilot: Australia does not currently have a scheduled plebiscite. The most recent national vote was a referendum held on October 14, 2023, regarding the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
If you have any other questions about Australian politics or anything else, feel free to ask!

Me: When is the next plebiscite in the USA?

Copilot: The United States does not have a scheduled plebiscite at the national level. Instead, the country primarily uses elections and referendums to make decisions on various issues. The next major national vote will be the presidential election on November 5, 2024.
Is there a specific issue or topic you’re interested in regarding U.S. politics?

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

One year later, they're trying again. I guess they're hoping everyone forgot about why this is bad:

Microsoft rolls Windows Recall out to the public nearly a year after announcing it

The improved Recall still tries to record everything you do on your PC.

arstechnica.com

The offering has not changed from what was announced after the initial backlash last summer - only on "Copilot+ laptops" (to begin with), will be "opt-in" (but there will almost certainly be nags), uninstallable (probably a dozen asterisks here though, and that's not counting the part where it's inevitably reinstalled after the next system update), will be "processed locally" (says the company that no longer allows you to have a purely local account on your machine) and will be SUPER secure because as we know Windows 11 is THE most SECURE operating system in the WHOLE UNIVERSE.

 

[Noodles]

One year later, they're trying again. I guess they're hoping everyone forgot about why this is bad:

Microsoft rolls Windows Recall out to the public nearly a year after announcing it

The improved Recall still tries to record everything you do on your PC.

arstechnica.com

The offering has not changed from what was announced after the initial backlash last summer - only on "Copilot+ laptops" (to begin with), will be "opt-in" (but there will almost certainly be nags), uninstallable (probably a dozen asterisks here though, and that's not counting the part where it's inevitably reinstalled after the next system update), will be "processed locally" (says the company that no longer allows you to have a purely local account on your machine) and will be SUPER secure because as we know Windows 11 is THE most SECURE operating system in the WHOLE UNIVERSE.

All privacy worry aside, gamers will HATE this.

This is the closest thing I can think of. Epic launched this thing where you could clip moments from Fortnite as you play. I forget what it was called, but it meant basically, always recording a buffer. Which KILLED a lot of frame rate and resources. It was easily turned off, but it was annoying.