Privacy Guides
In the digital age, protecting your personal information might seem like an impossible task. We’re here to help.
This is a community for sharing news about privacy, posting information about cool privacy tools and services, and getting advice about your privacy journey.
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Additional Resources:
- EFF: Surveillance Self-Defense
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- r/Privacy
- Big Ass Data Broker Opt-Out List
Tbf I’m okay with a lot of this stuff as long as it stays local on your own PC and you have control over it. However I don’t trust MS to implement it in a way that doesn’t prioritise their profits over my privacy.
Furthermore, I don't trust Microsoft to not do a gigantic oopsie and introduce a bug that emails screenshots of porn websites I visited to my Mum or some shit. Their QC is abhorrent.
Soon: "We've notice there was a backdoor for 20 years, in that open source library, that was actively abused, that allowed for full access to the AI remind me recordings." upsi daisy.
The bug was well documented and we own the git platform it was written on, but hey, we ain't got time for that. Too busy implementing new menus that look worse and do less than the old ones so we have to keep the old ones around anyway.
Along with a copy of a "encrypted messege" to your wife where you said turkey sucked last thankgiving.
For a good measure.
What websites? Just asking so I can avoid them
Available information indicates that it's all processed and stored on-device (and even encrypted). I'll wait for confirmation from security researchers, but the available information I've come across says that it's all done locally.
Soo glad I moved to Linux.
Same. As soon as I saw copilot being implemented I made the switch on desktop.
Windows has gone cuckoo-crazy and off the rails ever since 11 came out, and even more when Microsoft decided to cash in on AI.
i would mark the turning point as when i saw the first candy crush icon on a fresh install from official image (i.e. not some laptop vendor who are already known to push mcafee and similar bloat) I'm so confused why regular users didn't push back on it. it's like buying a car and it has mcdonalds and office365 logos on it.
I've got bad news for you about cars being sold over the last 15 years.
And thats why I drive a 15 year old car despite being able to afford a 10 year old car.
It really shouldnt be this way.
For $24 a month I can keep you safe from the worst ones.
24 is too pricey but for fitty upfront i can do the same scam
What a dangerous path we're walking down. All in service of a slightly better Clippy experience
Clippy was the pretext not the goal
Not defending M$, but this sounds pretty much like a browser history feature, but for your desktop. Since most people are using their browser for 90% of the tasks they perform on their computer, this probably won't phase them.
Still, if this feature hits my laptop, it's going to be disabled. I have never needed to know what specifically I was doing on my computer three weeks ago on Wednesday around 2pm.
What's the use case for something like this?
This feature sounds like something an employer would want to use, if they aren't already, to spy on their employees.
Yeah I think just general data harvesting for Microsoft. Also I'd suspect if you were doing something like pirating TV shows maybe you could get busted that way even with a VPN? If the AI is set up to recognize it and report it I mean.
What’s the use case for something like this?
I could see it being handy for work, sometimes when designing parts I'll find a component that looks like a good fit but will forget to note it down or bookmark it.
Summarizing previous conversations with a customer for support via email/chat would also be nice, so I don't have to manually go through a bunch of threads to remember what products they have and such.
It sounds like these use cases would be better served if this feature was a specific, opt-in available in an enterprise version or a separate, third-party product (i.e. screen capture software that will ONLY record what you do in the software in question, when you want it to).
But baked into a consumer OS (not the business version) seems excessive. Who knows, maybe people will find good uses for it at home. I'm cynical and don't believe that M$ designed this for the user's benefit.
On the positive side (at least for now), this is a local-only, encrypted data feature.
Oh I'm sure the employer mode will cost lots of money.
Ahh, so you want to know what Joe did last friday afternoon on companys work PC? No problem, you can unlock this fearure either for mere $3 for this specific case or low low $25 monthly subscription for spying on Joe all the time ... probably someone over in MS
I'm so glad i can use Linux on my work PC
Already exists
In a few more years you got to pay monthly subscription and pay extra to not get recorded (later they find out it was recorded anyways). Same as with Amazon prime video with their subscription plus ads. Then they get a few millions as fine and move on.
To me this sounds like a feature to justify recording everything done on the PC in order to phone it back to Big MS.
This reminds me of the period when AAA game companies were trying to mandate persistent online connection as part of DRM, and looked specifically for game mechanics to justify it. It often didn't work, or worsened the game.
It always makes it worse for the gamer. I was sailing the high seas back then and getting cracked games was double click, and you’re good to go. Real games were please insert disc, disc not found, unable to continue. Bye.
DRM has always been an absolute bane that throws players under the bus because fuck you money
New Windows feature... same as a virus?
New Virus feature.
Great time to have 2 computers if you need windows!
Virtualisation/dualboot/wine you don't need 2 computers
Virtualbox goes brrrrrrr
QEMU is so good though
I know every time this sort of thing happens, a good amount of people come over to Linux or jump on Mac, but I really do wonder where the line is for the vast majority of my friends who just keep plodding away moaning about this stuff. I've taken a lead yourself to water approach over recent years CBA anymore
This is the best summary I could come up with:
At a Build conference event on Monday, Microsoft revealed a new AI-powered feature called "Recall" for Copilot+ PCs that will allow Windows 11 users to search and retrieve their past activities on their PC.
To make it work, Recall records everything users do on their PC, including activities in apps, communications in live meetings, and websites visited for research.
By performing a Recall action, users can access a snapshot from a specific time period, providing context for the event or moment they are searching for.
For example, someone with access to your Windows account could potentially use Recall to see everything you've been doing recently on your PC, which might extend beyond the embarrassing implications of pornography viewing and actually threaten the lives of journalists or perceived enemies of the state.
Despite the privacy concerns, Microsoft says that the Recall index remains local and private on-device, encrypted in a way that is linked to a particular user's account.
To use Recall, users will need to purchase one of the new "Copilot Plus PCs" powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips, which include the necessary neural processing unit (NPU).
The original article contains 596 words, the summary contains 188 words. Saved 68%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I got upgraded by work from Adobe CS6 recently and OMFG. Will they please FUCK OFF with all the interruptions about this AI feature or that AI helper.
There’s gotta be a box to tick somewhere to stop all these fucking pop ups.
Great news, thanks!