--- title: "Microsoft Admits That Maybe Surveiling Everything You Do on Your Computer Isn’t a Brilliant Idea" description: "I Don't Recall After announcing a new AI feature that records and screenshots everything you do, Microsoft is now delaying its launch. The company broke the news in a blog post detailing its decision not to ship the feature, named Recall, on new computers so that it can continue to \"leverage the expertise\" of its […]" date: "2024-06-14" modified: "2024-06-14" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/microsoft-recall-surveillance-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "microsoft" - "security" - "surveillance" - "the digest" --- # Microsoft Admits That Maybe Surveiling Everything You Do on Your Computer Isn’t a Brilliant Idea ![After announcing a new AI feature that records and screenshots everything you do, Microsoft is now delaying its launch. ]() *LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 09: Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella speaks during a keynote address by Walmart Inc. President and CEO Doug McMillon during CES 2024 at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas on January 9, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 12 and features about 4,000 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to more than 130,000 attendees. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) \Image: Ethan Miller/Getty Images\* ## No-tal Recall After announcing a new AI feature that records and screenshots everything you do, Microsoft is now delaying its launch after widespread objections. The company [broke the news in a blog post]() detailing its decision not to ship the feature, dubbed Recall, on new computers so that it can continue to "leverage the expertise" of its Windows Insider Program (WIP) beta-testing community. "This decision is rooted in our commitment to providing a trusted, secure and robust experience for all customers," the statement reads, "and to seek additional feedback prior to making the feature available to all Copilot+ PC users." What this statement doesn't include, [as *CNBC* notes](), is the outcry from industry experts and tech columnists who said the [feature was a security "disaster]()" that's eerily [reminiscent of a specific "Black Mirror" episode](). It also comes after concerned cybersecurity researchers released [TotalRecall](), a tool that [extracts all the intimate screenshots]() from the unencrypted folder where they're stored on users' PCs. Seemingly in response, [Microsoft announced earlier this month]() that it would be encrypting Recall data and that users would have to opt into turning it on rather than it being engaged by default. ## Congressional Cookout In the backdrop of this decision hangs company vice chairman and president [Brad Smith's testimony before Congress]() yesterday, which saw him grilled by regulators over the company's security practices in the wake of massive [data breaches it was involved in in China](). During that testimony, the executive insisted that moving forward, Microsoft will make security "more important even than the company’s work on artificial intelligence," [*Ars Technica* reports](). Smith also said that CEO Satya Nadella "has taken on the responsibility personally to serve as the senior executive with overall accountability for Microsoft’s security," which essentially puts the company head even more in the hot seat for any issues moving forward. With all this backtracking, it's worth noting that Microsoft has to date [laid off more than 11,000 people]() since its pivot to AI in early 2023. For all the lip service being paid here, it remains to be seen whether this new security realignment will make any difference on either its aggressive adoption of AI or its bottom line. **More on Microsoft:** [*Microsoft Sued For AI Article Accusing Innocent Man of Sexual Misconduct*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()