The "#WindowsRecall feature will be disabled by default" headfake move is pretty meaningless when we know#Microsoft is going to constantly nag all their users to turn on that "feature" for an "enhanced" user experience and AI-powered productivity superpowers n' stuff, it's just one click away!
Between #MicrosoftRecall and now #Adobe's crack-smoking new attempt to claim access to anything you create with their products, it's really feeling like tech company CEOs have all been simultaneously struck with some weird-ass brain virus that shuts down even the most rudimentary "maybe this would wipe out my company?" thoughts. And the ability to listen to their own legal departments, who have gotta be saying, "This is flagrantly illegal and will subject us to company-destroying lawsuits."
Remember kids, switching to Linux is a good idea, but anyone using Windows and communicating with you over the internet will still record everything you talk about.
I'm finally caught up on the Microsoft Recall feature coming to Windows 11, and my very first question is who even wants this?
Who has sat there and went "oh yeah, I forgot what I was doing 5 mins ago on my pc and I absolutely cannot spend a few mins thinking about it or pressing the back button to remember" ???
Why is it that the only user cases I have seen for #MicrosoftRecall is stupid made up shit that sounds like infomercial products: "Are you tired of saving your spreadsheets in random places on your hard drive and not remember where you saved them? This will fix that!"
So it seems that what #Windows#MicrosoftRecall does is take screenshots, sorts windows by application, then runs each window through an image-to-text model and logs its contents, capturing text, web domain information, and the topic of the content. This information is then logged in a searchable local database.
This has to be combined with some way to get back to the content, right? So if I searched for a topic in the future, Windows has to be able to restore the app and the document that you were viewing. So there has to be some URL or file path associated with each window content.
I know people are freaked out about this feature, but I think it’s basically Spotlight on steroids. I’m actually not that freaked out about it if it’s local-only, and I think this can actually be useful for someone with #ADHD like me who loses content all the time.
The real questions: what privacy-protection mechanisms are present, who gets to access to this data, how easily it can be exfiltrated?
#MicrosoftRecall uses UserActivity to allow apps to log which document a window displays and what the user was doing at the time. This activity is used to restore the window. This is exactly the same mechanism that iOS/iPadOS uses to save your scenes for multitasking.
There is also a setting for corporate admins to disable this feature.
It’s not immediately clear from the current docs, but I’m sure apps can use new API to directly offer database entries instead of relying on image-to-text models, and also to exclude windows (e.g. private browsing sessions) from being indexed.
It’s important to demistfy this feature. I don’t think it’s the bogeyman that some people think it is.
Microsoft Recall isn't just Microsoft looking through the window of your house, watching everything that you do from the outside. Microsoft is inside your house, taking a photo of everything that happens every 5 seconds.
People are mad about LLMs being trained on publicly accessible content. All of this Recall training is coming from inside your house. If any of your friends or family visit you inside your house, Microsoft will be there taking photos of everything you do together, every 5 seconds, learning, recording.
Do not forget that Microsoft is an NSA collaborator. Their behavior is abusive and untrustworthy.
Nächsten Montag laden wir zu einem - Workshop für Digitale Nachhaltigkeit als Nachbereitung vom #Umweltfestival 🌳 2024 in #Berlin zusammen ein. Weitere Interessierte sind willkommen!
Why does #Microsoft want to implement #Recall? It's not about images. It's about modelling what workers do on Windows, and then replacing them.
The most expensive part of a computer is the fallible feelings-filled unpredictable meat sack that operates it.
Google has YouTube, Google Photos, Maps, and a bucket load of search data, Google Analytics, advertising, as well as it's #GCP data (e.g. #STT transcriptions). And a bunch of data from Android services. From this data they can model speech, model videos and model advertising systems, and how humans respond to them.
But they can't model what people do on computers.
Amazon has Prime data, and a bucket load of compute. But no operating system data. They can build models based around e-commerce and advertising systems.
But they can't model what people do on computers.
Meta has waves hands enough analytics to model human behaviour in the Metaverse.
But they can't model what people do on computers.
Microsoft has GitHub.
Microsoft has LinkedIn.
Microsoft has SharePoint.
Microsoft has Teams.
Microsoft has Dynamics.
Microsoft has O365.
Microsoft has Windows telemetry data.
Microsoft can model what people do on (Windows) computers. Like fill out spreadsheets.Write emails. Synthesize web pages of research. Interact with colleagues on Teams. Create and edit documents.
Microsoft wants #MicrosoftRecall data so they can model what people do with operating systems.
Then replace them.
Imagine a CoPilot that doesn't just write buggy code. Imagine one that also does spreadsheets. That creates documents on SharePoint. That communicates with colleages on Teams. That has a customer pipeline on Dynamics.
That's what Recall is about - 360 degree surveillance of the worker, to model their functions, make them fungible, replicable - and replaceable.
Wenn ich in einer Videokonferenz mit anderen bin, die Microsoft Recall laufen haben, werden meine biometrischen Daten (Sprache und Video) in das lokale KI-Modell der Person aufgezeichnet, also verarbeitet.
Wer ist dafür verantwortlich im Sinne der #DSGVO?
However, Recall won't actively hide sensitive information like passwords and financial account numbers that appear on-screen.
Marketed to be "on your device only". |
It used to be a meme to ask someone to delete your browser history when you die. Now you gotta ask them to dep fry the whole computer> To use Recall, users will need to purchase one of the new "Copilot Plus PCs" powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips
Got it, so avoid these PCs. Only a matter of time before this comes baked into more chips though. Gross.
@dalekcoffee It's complete insanity. I don't know what they're thinking turning people's PCs into spyware. Not even asking for consent, just: Congrats, we made the choice for you!
Anyone with this crap on a compromised PC will now not only lose their passwords but their whole life and identity. A scammers wet dream.