Security Researcher Calls Windows 11 AI 'Recall' Screenshotting Feature a Disaster [Updated]

Last month, Microsoft announced the upcoming launch of Copilot+ Windows PCs with integrated AI hardware and software. One feature that Microsoft touted was Recall, a tool that's designed to take regular snapshots of PC content to help users find anything they've seen or done on their machine.


As it turns out, Recall might be a security nightmare for Windows users. Security expert Kevin Beaumont recently said (via The Verge) that he was able to automate a program that provides plain text data of everything a user has viewed, despite Microsoft's claims that Recall information cannot be exfiltrated remotely.

Beaumont claims that Recall is "essentially an infostealer" that's included in Windows by default, and that it will "set cybersecurity back a decade by empowering cybercriminals." With Recall, hackers are able to scrape "everything you've ever looked at within seconds," and users should prepare for "AI powered super breaches."

Microsoft describes Recall as a feature that lets you "search across time to find the content you need." Powered by AI, Recall takes snapshots every five seconds when content on the screen is different from the prior snapshot and stores the snapshots in a timeline, with AI software using OCR to make the text in the snapshots searchable. Microsoft says that snapshots are locally stored and are analyzed on-device, which should make them secure, but the OCR data is stored in an SQLite database that could be accessed by hackers who infiltrate a PC using malware.

According to Beaumont, infostealer trojans are able to be "easily modified to support Recall" and data from the feature can be accessed remotely. Microsoft "tried to do a bunch of things" to improve security, but ultimately, "none of it actually works properly in the real world." The database that is theoretically accessible by malicious actors contains everything a user has seen such as text messages and passwords, every user interaction, and all websites visited (with the exception of Microsoft Edge in Private Mode).

Beaumont has not shared full technical details on how he automated exfiltration of the Recall database, and is holding until Recall is shipped because he wants to give Microsoft "time to do something." Beaumont recommends that Microsoft pull the feature for the time being.

Copilot+ PCs with Recall are set to launch on June 18. As of now, Recall is turned on by default, though users can optionally disable it.

Update: Given the response to Recall, Microsoft has decided to make it an opt-in feature rather than an opt-out feature. It will no longer be on by default, and there will be an option to opt in or opt out when setting up a Copilot+ PC. Windows Hello will also be required to turn on Recall for an extra layer of authentication. Windows Hello requires a face scan, fingerprint, or PIN to access a machine. Proof of presence will be required as well, so a screenshot timeline won't be accessible without authentication.

To address concerns about the accessibility of the database that Recall creates, Microsoft is adding additional layers of protection linked to authentication, and the search index database has been encrypted.

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Latest iPhone 17 Series CAD Images in Line With Redesign Rumors

Friday February 28, 2025 2:51 am PST by
Apple is expected to embrace a new camera system design for some models in its upcoming iPhone 17 series, and the latest purported CAD images don't deviate from what we have been hearing lately about Apple's new lineup. If you do not like the sound of an iPhone with a Google Pixel-style camera bar, look away now. Seasoned leaker Sonny Dickson shared the following images in a post on X...
iphone 16e usb c feature

Apple Provides Reason for iPhone 16e's Lack of MagSafe

Friday February 28, 2025 4:39 am PST by
Apple has offered a reason why the iPhone 16e doesn't include MagSafe, one of the more notable omissions from its latest entry-level smartphone. According to Apple representatives who spoke to Daring Fireball's John Gruber, MagSafe is not included in the iPhone 16e because "most people in the iPhone 16e's target audience exclusively charge their phones by plugging them into a charging...
apple intelligence black

These New Apple Intelligence Features Are Coming in iOS 18.4

Friday February 28, 2025 3:17 pm PST by
iOS 18.4 was supposed to bring new Apple Intelligence Siri features, but Apple ended up needing to pull those capabilities from the update to continue testing. There are fewer new Apple Intelligence additions now, but there are still some new features that will make the update worth installing when it comes out in April. Priority Notifications Apple introduced Priority Notifications back at ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Rumored to Include These New Features for Your iPhone

Saturday March 1, 2025 11:00 am PST by
iOS 19 is still around three months away from being unveiled, but there are plenty of rumors about the upcoming update. Below, we recap iOS 19 rumors so far. Redesigned Camera App A leak earlier this year allegedly revealed a redesigned Camera app coming with iOS 19. On his YouTube channel Front Page Tech in January, Jon Prosser shared a video showing what the new Camera app will...
cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
apple c1

How Fast is Apple's First-Ever 5G Modem? The Results Are Surprising

Friday February 28, 2025 10:08 am PST by
iPhone 16e reviews are now out, and Apple's custom-designed C1 modem has been put to the test. The results so far are quite surprising, as the C1's speeds are not as slow compared to Qualcomm modems as originally expected. While the C1 does not support ultra-fast mmWave 5G in the U.S., it appears to offer comparable 5G performance to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X71 modem found in the iPhone 16,...

Top Rated Comments

vertsix Avatar
10 months ago
I hate all this AI ****.

There, I said it.
Score: 93 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EightBitJoe Avatar
10 months ago
Hey, what could be the harm, right? It's Microsoft! I trust them.

Them. Them.

I. I. I trust. Trrrrrrrrr.

?SYNTAX ERROR IN LINE 39737

GENERAL FAILURE READING DRIVE C. ABORT, RETRY, FAIL?

Thank you for using BillGPT. Goodbye.
Score: 52 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StralyanPithecus Avatar
10 months ago

I hate all this AI ****.
Another tool developed to spy on users.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Delivered Avatar
10 months ago

imagine if Apple did this
As someone who loves apple products and uses a lot of them, I am a harsh critic of apple because I want their stuff be great for me to keep using it. When Apple anounced the photo scanning locally on device the techsphere nearly brought the internet down on apple.

Microsoft does this and because they slapped AI/chatgpt/copiolot we all just What say “I hope they nail the security“ This is a flaw at the core. It takes pictures of the passwords as you enter them. That’s so lazy it’s unreal. Microsoft and google wasted no time throwing off the “we care about privacy” hats and double way down on ”feed us data for AI”.

Good luck “turning it off” Microsoft‘s privacy settings are AWFUL. I tried going through it I have no idea and the next update will probably just switch it back on, change a setting w/e. It’s ridiculous.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DHagan4755 Avatar
10 months ago

As of now, Recall is turned on by default, though users can optionally disable it.
Is it really off when it's disabled?
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
10 months ago
It’s just a fancy key-logger. o_O
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)