Microsoft’s controversial AI feature Recall is finally coming to Windows in October. After delaying the feature over security concerns when it was announced in June, Redmond will allow Windows Insider users to try it out. However, there’s still no wide release date in sight.
Recall promised to use onboard AI on the newly announced CoPilot Plus PCs to screenshot your PC usage and then give users the ability to search and retrieve items they had seen in the form of a scrollable timeline through snapshots taken on any particular day. Redmond also assured users of the feature’s security, claiming that attackers would require physical access to a device to steal data and that AI processing would be done locally.
However, Microsoft’s claims of security weren’t very accurate. The feature was enabled by default, and shortly after the announcement, researchers discovered vulnerabilities that allowed attackers to capture data collected through the feature. Shortly after, Microsoft attempted to settle the outrage by disabling the feature by default and making Windows Hello registration mandatory to access its data. Later, a delay was announced in the feature’s June 18 release, pushing it from a fully-fledged feature to a “preview available first in the Windows Insider Program,” claiming it’ll arrive in a few weeks.
In any case, Recall’s public launch doesn’t seem likely to happen until next year. The reason behind recent delays also hasn’t been communicated clearly, with updates claiming that security continues to be the company’s priority, with an update coming when the feature arrives to Windows Insiders later in October.
Redmond generally tests features with Insiders for a few months before releasing them to the general public—that is, if they make the release cycle at all. At the moment, it seems likely that Microsoft just needs more time to polish out the numerous flaws pointed out by the security community and its wider userbase.
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