Last June Windows announced the launch of a new function based on Artificial Intelligence: Windows 11 Memories (o Windows 11 Recall, its original name in English). It is a functionality capable of recording all the activities we carry out on our PC, saving them and classifying them in a history.
In this article we explain what the Windows 11 Memories function is and how to use it. And we will also discuss the recent controversy that has been generated about the possible risks to the user's security and privacy that this tool could generate.
In principle, Windows 11 Recall will be implemented on Copilot+ PCs: the new ones Surface Laptop and Surface Pro. It will be available for now only in the following languages: English, Chinese, French, German and Spanish.
What is Windows 11 Memories?
Microsoft introduced Recall like a kind of photographic memory which runs discreetly in the background with the aim of recording everything the user does with their PC. A total record that, perhaps, will make backup copies as we know them today unnecessary.
Its operation is quite similar to that of the file explorer, although with one substantial difference: in addition to allowing userssusers to search the current files, it will also offer them the possibility of exploring all the actions and changes executed on a PC over time.
The great advantage of having everything we do recorded on our computer is that we can access all previous information: recover emails deleted by mistake, review moments of our actions in applications of all kinds, texts written and thrown into the trash...
How Windows 11 Recall works
The basis of the registry through which Windows 11 Memories works is something as simple as the resource of the screenshot. All our actions and movements will be saved in this way. Later, we can access this information thanks to an interface with timeline format. Thus, it will be possible to return to a certain time or date to review everything we have done on a specific website, application or document.
And if searching on our own seems tiresome and cumbersome, or we are not sure of the dates we want to relive, we can also let Windows 11 Memories do the work for us. As? Simply asking you to browse through all these files, associating photos, words and other data to find what we are looking for. AI prodigies.
And not only that: Recall also incorporates the ability to transcribe audio to text. That means you can also browse and find audio-visual file data.
One of the questions that arise almost naturally when we begin to understand how this Windows 11 feature works is the following: Where is all that information stored? First of all, it must be explained that users have the possibility to decide what information they want to be saved. On the other hand, it is also possible to delete the screenshots you want or even deactivate the function.
Microsoft insists on the point that all that data is saved locally. That is, within the computer itself (50 GB of free memory is required). This way, they will not be shared with anyone, nor will they be uploaded to the cloud. Nor will they be used for AI training, as happens in other cases. In addition, by default the captures will be automatically deleted after 3 months.
Concerns about security and privacy
The launch of Windows 11 memories, which was scheduled for June of this year, has had to be postponed due to a strong controversy unleashed around the alleged security and privacy vulnerabilities.
The controversy began on social networks following some observations from cybersecurity experts and soon grew dramatically. The mechanisms that Microsoft had devised to ensure these sensitive aspects were criticized as insufficient and sloppy. The big problem is that they were based on the user's blind trust in the corporation, without other guarantees.
In early June, a cybersecurity expert named Kevin Beaumont discovered serious flaws in Recall security, confirming that the initial suspicions were founded. Any moderately trained hacker could extract the information saved through this functionality without much effort.
Microsoft's reaction to the evidence of the disaster was immediate: cancel the official presentation of Windows 11 Recall until the issue was resolved. It seems that now they are investing huge resources to correct these serious errors and be able to present your product to the public without there being the slightest shadow of doubt about its safety.
For these reasons, at the moment, we cannot speak of a certain date for the launch of Windows 11 Memories. We will have to be aware of the information that appears in the Microsoft blog to know it.