(Image source from: AP)
Microsoft Recall, the company's upcoming Copilot+ feature for PC, is facing further delays. The Redmond company was expected to roll out the callback feature for Windows Insiders last month. However, the company says it is unlikely to be available for several months. The feature is designed to run on Windows 11 Copilot+ PCs and takes screenshots of user activity, but has been criticized since I've been here over privacy and security concerns. Senior product manager Brandon LeBlanc confirmed to The Verge that the callback feature will only be available to members of the Windows Insiders program until December. “To ensure these important updates are delivered, we are spending more time refining the experience before previewing it with Windows Insiders,” an executive told the publication.
The new Recall feature, originally announced in May, is an AI feature that only runs on Copilot+ PCs. It helps users find things on their computer by taking screenshots of all activity and searching for the content of those screenshots in the future. The feature's announcement was met with strong criticism from privacy advocates and security experts, who pointed out several flaws in early versions of Recall. In response to the backlash, Microsoft scrapped its plans to release Recall for Windows Insider testers in June, instead announcing an October release. Since then, the company has announced significant changes to its recall feature aimed at improving safety.
For example, Recall for Windows now stores encrypted data and the encryption key is protected by the CPU's Trusted Platform Module (TPM). According to Microsoft, this feature can only be used in a secure environment to protect user data from access by other users. Microsoft has also made changes to Recall to protect user data from exposure to malware. This feature includes anti-hammer and speed limit measures. On the other hand, access to the recall and function settings can only be unlocked via Windows Hello authentication with a PIN as a fallback method.
The company also announced that Recall is now enabled for all Copilot+ PC users and can be removed completely. If the feature is available to Windows Insiders by December, we can expect Microsoft to finally roll it out to all Copilot+ PC owners next year.
