- Users can easily turn off this feature by going to Settings.
PC Screenshot: In today’s era, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making our digital experience smarter than before. But along with convenience, many questions are also being raised regarding privacy. Recently, a feature of Microsoft has started a new debate about privacy across the world. This feature is Microsoft Recall which takes screenshots from time to time to remember your computer activities.
What is Microsoft Recall feature?
Microsoft introduced the Recall feature for Windows 11 Copilot+ PC. Its purpose is to help users easily find things that they have previously seen on their computer.
This feature captures screen images i.e. screenshots almost every few seconds and saves them on the device. The AI then analyzes these photos and creates a searchable record. That means, if you had opened any website, document or app earlier, you can easily search it later.
How does this feature work?
Recall saves screen images of most of the apps, web pages, and documents you use. AI understands the information present in all these screenshots and stores it in a systematic manner.
When the user searches for any past activity, the system helps in reaching the same place directly by showing the related screenshot. This feature may seem useful but there are some serious concerns associated with it.
Storage is also affected
This feature also uses a lot of storage due to continuous saving of screenshots. For example, a system with a 1TB SSD may have a large amount of storage reserved just for holding these screenshots. Therefore, this feature is in discussion not only about privacy but also about storage usage.
Why are privacy experts worried?
Cyber security experts and privacy advocates believe that activities like continuous screen recording can pose a threat to user’s personal information. Passwords, banking information, private chats, emails and other sensitive data are often visible on the screen. If for some reason all these screenshots reach into the wrong hands then they can be misused. This is why many security experts have advised to be cautious about this feature.
Are smartphones also completely safe?
This concern is not limited to Windows PC only. Some accessibility features in Android and iPhone provide special rights related to screen capture.
Apart from this, some third-party apps may try to access the screen content by misusing the accessibility permission. Especially those apps that claim to take screenshots everywhere can be risky from security point of view.
However, Apple currently does not provide any feature that automatically takes screenshots of the entire phone screen. Screen recording or capturing usually requires explicit permission.
How to turn off the Recall feature?
If you are using Windows 11 and want to disable this feature, follow the steps given below.
Settings → Privacy & Security → Recall & Snapshots
After this turn off the Recall feature.
Android users should periodically check which apps have Accessibility Permissions. iPhone users can review the permissions related to Screen Recording by going to Privacy & Security settings.
It is important to be alert about online security
A large part of your digital life exists on your screen. Bank details, personal messages, office documents and many important information appear on the screen. Therefore, it is very important to know which feature or app can access your screen.
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