Windows Recall

Windows Recall is an AI-powered feature of Windows 11 intended to help users remember anything they do on their PC at any time and potentially resume or investigate it later. Users can query the AI through natural language. This feature has a rigid set of system requirements, including a 40-trillion-operations-per-second neural processing unit (NPU), and device-level cryptography. The feature has met significant backlash.

Overview

Windows Recall takes a screenshot of a user's desktop every few seconds, then uses on-device large language models to allow a user to retrieve items and information that had previously been on their screen. It was announced by Microsoft, alongside the integration of GPT-4o into Microsoft Copilot and an upgraded user interface in Windows 11, in May 2024.[1]

Systems using Recall must meet the following requirements:[2]

• A Copilot+ PC that meets the Secured-core standard
• A neural processing unit (NPU) capable of 40 TOPS
• 16 GB RAM
• 8 logical processors
• 256 GB storage capacity, with 50 GB of free space (saving snapshots automatically pauses if the device has less than 25 GB of free storage space)
• BitLocker Device Encryption enabled
• Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security enabled, with at least one biometric sign-in option

Reception

Recall's release immediately caused controversy, with experts warning that the feature could be a "disaster" for security and privacy,[3] particularly since there was initially no option for users to disable it.[4] This backlash prompted Microsoft to postpone its rollout.[3][5] Microsoft then changed the feature to opt-in and provided instructions for how to remove it.[2]

Backlash against Recall was centered on both security and privacy. Upon its release, Recall was described as a "potential security nightmare".[6] The initial version of Recall saved all data to a plaintext database, making it easy for the data to be stolen.[7]