Microsoft has released an update regarding the Recall feature in Windows 11, which has been on hold for some time owing to security and privacy concerns. The document also details when Microsoft intends to move forward with the feature and roll it out to Copilot+ PCs.
Microsoft said in a statement that the intention is to launch Recall on CoPilot+ laptops in November, with a number of protections in place to ensure that the feature is safe enough, as explained in a separate blog post. So, what are these measures supposed to appease the critics of Recall - a supercharged AI-powered search in Windows 11 that uses regular screenshots ('snapshots' as Microsoft calls them) of the activity on your PC - as it was originally intended?
One of the most significant changes is that, as Microsoft had previously informed us, Recall will only be available with permission, rather than being enabled by default as it was when the function was first introduced.
“During the set-up experience for Copilot+ PCs, users are given a clear option whether to opt-in to saving snapshots using Recall. If a user doesn’t proactively choose to turn it on, it will be off, and snapshots will not be taken or saved,” Microsoft noted.
Additionally, as Microsoft has stated, snapshots and other Recall-related data would be fully permitted, and Windows Hello login will be required to access the service. In other words, you'll need to check in through Hello to prove that you're the one using Recall (not someone else on your PC).
Furthermore, Recall will use a secure environment known as a Virtualization-based Security Enclave, or VBS Enclave, which is a fully secure virtual computer isolated from the Windows 11 system that can only be accessed by the user via a decryption key (given with the Windows Hello sign-in).
David Weston, who wrote Microsoft’s blog post and is VP of Enterprise and OS Security, explained to Windows Central: “All of the sensitive Recall processes, so screenshots, screenshot processing, vector database, are now in a VBS Enclave. We basically took Recall and put it in a virtual machine [VM], so even administrative users are not able to interact in that VM or run any code or see any data.”
Similarly, Microsoft cannot access your Recall data. And, as the software giant has already stated, all of this data is stored locally on your machine; none of it is sent to the cloud. This is why Recall is only available on Copilot+ PCs - it requires a strong NPU for acceleration and local processing to function properly.
Finally, Microsoft addresses a previous issue about Recall storing images of, say, your online banking site and perhaps sensitive financial information - the tool now filters out things like passwords and credit card numbers.
