Recall UK Regulatory Scrutiny – Microsoft’s Copilot+ Artificial Intelligence Is a ‘Privacy Nightmare’

Microsoft’s new artificial intelligence tools are raising concerns from the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and the recently announced ‘Retirement’ feature of Copilot+ computers has been identified as a potential security risk. ICO joins industry veterans and privacy campaigners in investigating the security of Recall, the snapshot collection feature that has become a “privacy nightmare”.

“We asked Microsoft to understand the safeguards it has in place to protect user privacy,” an ICO spokesman said. The ICO, the UK’s data protection and privacy authority, says companies like Microsoft “must rigorously assess and mitigate risks to people’s rights and freedoms” before offering new products or services. Dr Kris Shrishak, privacy adviser at the Irish Civil Liberties Council, went a step further, stating that “(recall) can be a privacy nightmare. The mere fact that screenshots will be taken while using the device can have a chilling effect on people.”

As we’ve previously reported, Recall could potentially pose serious privacy risks, even if it works as advertised. This new feature is part of a new family of Microsoft Copilot+ PC laptops, ARM-based Windows PCs tuned for AI performance, and a suite of AI enhancements to take advantage of the new NPU power. Recall remembers what you saw on your computer, taking screenshots every few seconds to create a full log of your activity in case you forget where you saw something. The AI comes into play when you search history, for example displaying all images containing “red shoes” when you search for “red shoes”.

Although Microsoft claims that snapshots are stored entirely locally, this still poses a huge potential privacy risk. Anyone who can log into your computer – locally or remotely – can access your Social Security numbers and uncensored passwords, confidential conversations, or other private matters. Recall can be paused or certain applications can be excluded from Recall snapshots, but it will be saved in the Windows operating system starting with Windows 11 24H2 on Copilot+ computers and cannot be completely removed or disabled (perhaps this can be done by editing the registry file, but it involves this involves risk).

Microsoft, for its part, says Recall is a safe feature. “Microsoft built privacy into the Recall project from the ground up,” we read in an FAQ on the Microsoft blog. Recall does not capture any DRM-protected content, and its snapshots will be double-protected with data encryption and BitLocker, which will be automatically installed on all Windows 11 24H2 updates. In addition to not capturing DRM content (a decision that is more anti-piracy than pro-security), Recall will not moderate content, leaving passwords and confidential information fully uncluttered in its storage. After all, “end-of-life is a key part of what makes Copilot+ computers unique,” and Microsoft will make every effort to maintain it; without Recall Copilot+ becomes quite boring.

Copilot+ PC’s features can help new laptops sink or swim, so its flagship risk-taking gimmick doesn’t bode well for its June 18 launch. This casts a light fog over Qualcomm’s triumphant entry into the Windows laptop space with its groundbreaking Snapdragon X-series processors. The Copilot+ and Snapdragon X also mark Microsoft’s first real attempt at making Windows on the shoulder actually work, which for some is the most exciting aspect of the Copilot+ . Qualcomm won’t be alone for long, as Dell has hinted that Arm processors for PCs made by Nvidia will be coming soon.