Microsoft makes three critical changes to Windows Recall after facing backlash

While Windows Recall is a neat feature, it has generated a good amount of criticism. At the core, this AI feature takes screenshots of everything you're doing on your PC, processes them, and lets you search across a timeline to find anything you've seen.

Given that the AI feature is collecting data on everything that you're doing on your PC, it has brought out privacy concerns. However, Microsoft assured that all the data would be processed locally and that nothing would reach the cloud. That's basically why Windows Recall requires a PC with at least 40 TOPs NPU and doesn't run as it should on incompatible systems.

However, the privacy concerns of the users were not dialed down, and Microsoft was still facing backlash. All this made the company introduce three key changes to this Copilot Plus AI feature. First of all, Windows 11 users will have full control over whether it will be enabled on their PC or not.

Even when the users don't choose any option during the setup, Recall will stay turned off by default. This eliminates the chances of the AI feature being enabled without you realizing it.

Secondly, Microsoft has made the Windows Hello security system mandatory for starting Recall. This means another user having access to the same computer won't be able to access other user's data without valid biometric authentication. Microsoft says that Windows 11 will also run a "proof of presence" test before offering the ability to check the timeline and make searches across it.

The last big change that Microsoft introduced for Windows Recall is the encryption of the search index database and the screenshots. The former solves most of the security concerns and lowers the chances of a user's data getting into the hands of another.

All these new security measures, combined with those already present, should help Microsoft gain more users' trust. But, of course, we will need to wait till the proper rollout set for June 18 to see how all of it pans out.

Preorder the new Microsoft Surface Pro 2-in-1 Copilot Plus PC from Amazon