asteroidsarcade| Microsoft's new AI tool Recall has been criticized: it's a "privacy nightmare"

Financial Union, May 27 (Editor Zhou Ziyi) In the competition for artificial intelligence products among technology companies,asteroidsarcade, privacy issues are becoming a hot topic among users. At a press conference last week, Microsoft announced plans to launch a tool called Recall on its upcoming Copilot+ personal computer. However, the tool received a lot of negative reviews shortly after the announcement.

According to the introduction, the tool takes screenshots of customers 'computers every few seconds. By default, it records all users' actions in Windows and does not conduct content review.

Recall's purpose is to let users search and retrieve anything they have done on their device. Its range of functions includes recording what a user has done in the app, tracking communications in real-time meetings, remembering all research websites a user has visited, and more.

The company also claims to have a series of protection measures for the screenshots and says the images are only stored on local encrypted drives.

"Privacy nightmare"

But reactions to the new feature have been largely negative, with some privacy activists even saying it may be a "privacy nightmare."

Dr. Kris Shrishak, an artificial intelligence and privacy consultant, said,"This could be a privacy nightmare. The fact that screenshots are taken while using the device may have a chilling effect."

Dr. Shrishak added,"When Microsoft takes screenshots every few seconds, people may avoid visiting certain websites and accessing files, especially confidential files."

Daniel Tozer, a data and privacy expert at Keystone Law, said,"When employers browse proprietary or confidential information on the screen, don't these companies respond to Recall's logging feature? For users on video calls, the Recall feature is also a controversy."

"Microsoft needs a legal basis to record users 'personal information... Users and access control will undoubtedly be a key concern for Microsoft," Tozer said.

Responding to these concerns, Microsoft explained that it has "integrated privacy into Recall's design" from the beginning, allowing users to control what is captured. For example, users can choose not to capture certain websites, and private browsing on Microsoft's own Edge browser can also be allowed not to be captured.

The company also pointed out that intruders require a password and physical access to a device to view any screenshots.

However, Jen Caltrider, head of Mozilla's privacy team, pointed out that these plans mean people who know your password can now have more detailed access to your history.

The Office of the Information Commissioner (ICO), the UK's data regulator, said it was contacting Microsoft to obtain more information about the safety of the product.

An ICO spokesperson said that before bringing any new products to the market, the company must "rigorously assess and mitigate risks to people's rights and freedoms" and that "we are investigating Microsoft to understand safeguards to protect user privacy."