Microsoft will open access to controversial AI feature Recall in October, but not for everyone

Microsoft has announced that Windows Insider program members will have access to the controversial Recall feature in Windows 11 this October. The software giant originally planned to launch Recall on the first-generation Copilot Plus PCs in the summer, but eventually scrapped the idea due to privacy and security concerns.

Image source: Microsoft

In mid-June, Microsoft said that the Recall feature, which records the activity of PC users so that they can later continue completing tasks they started, will be available to Insiders “in the coming weeks.” However, it now looks like this will happen in the coming months. “As part of our commitment to providing customers with a reliable and secure Recall (preview) experience on Copilot Plus PCs, we are announcing that Recall will be available to Windows Insiders starting in October,” Microsoft said in a statement.

Let us remind you that the Recall function uses AI algorithms running locally to record user actions in applications, during online conversations, browsing web pages, etc. Data saved during Recall operation is displayed on a timeline, due to which the user can find the information he is interested in from the past and return to interacting with her. However, Recall will not run on any Windows 11 PC because it requires a processor with a built-in neural processing unit (NPU).

Microsoft claimed that the Recall feature is a secure and private tool that runs locally on the user’s device. However, security researchers discovered that the data collected by the tool was stored in an unencrypted database, which could potentially allow malicious software to gain access to user data. Microsoft is currently looking to redesign Recall. The feature is not expected to work by default as intended and users will have to enable it themselves. In addition, the Recall database will be encrypted and Windows Hello will be used for authentication.

Microsoft did not specify why the launch of Recall is being postponed. At the same time, the company reminded that “security remains our top priority, and when Recall becomes available to insiders in October, we will publish more detailed information on the blog.” It’s possible that Microsoft simply needs more time to make sure the new feature is safe. However, this may mean that the Recall feature will not appear in stable versions of Windows 11 this year, since testing new tools among Insiders usually takes several months.