👀 Microsoft is always watching

👉 The what and the why

Last week Microsoft announced a new lineup of devices, Surface Laptop 7 and Surface Pro 11. These new devices will have a feature called “Recall” which has been described as a search history for your entire digital life.

It functions like this:

• Every two seconds, a new screenshot of the entire screen is taken and saved locally on the device.

• Users can then open a timeline-like interface showing all recent and past screenshots, allowing you to grab information like text and images from these.

It's a dream come true for people with short memories, but according to security experts and critics, it's a massive privacy risk. Just two days after its announcement, UK watchdog organisation ICO said they are investigating Microsoft for potential privacy risks.

Having a log of all device activity essentially eliminates the need for a bad actor to have real-time access to the device, instead relying on an easy-to-use timeline of screenshots.

Microsoft has since responded, saying they “built Recall with responsible AI principles”.

👉 The implications for you

We’ve seen devices like Limitless AI and others logging both real-life and on-device information. And Microsoft is likely only the first of many tech giants to adopt such features into their devices.

While this could be great, the question looming over everyone’s shoulder is, “What about privacy?”

Seeing more widespread adoption of features like the Limitless AI was only a matter of time. However, it forces regular people purchasing these products to be increasingly aware of what information their devices collect.

Staying informed about privacy risks, regulations, and how your data is processed on your devices is no longer a “good to have” but rather a need.

🔥 Our take on it

Considering that the Surface device lineup is primarily geared toward working professionals, it seems odd that Microsoft would implement a feature that drastically impacts user privacy.

Professionals often deal with sensitive client information, and any way a bad actor could gain access to their device is a massive concern.

To improve security, we believe Microsoft needs to enable additional data encryption, even if stored locally. Having a physical key, 2FA, or other means of verification would likely make the feature a viable option for more professionals and casual users alike.

Moving forward, tightly integrated AI functionality will also put more responsibility on the businesses producing them.

And without proper regulatory oversight, it could lead to Black Mirror-like situations.

👋 See you on Thursday!

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