Microsoft’s new AI-powered feature, Recall, remains at the center of privacy debates. The system, which regularly records Windows 11 users’ screens to create a visual archive of past activity, has been drawing increasing criticism from both security circles and software developers. The feature is now being blocked by the Brave browser and the AdGuard ad blocker.
Microsoft’s Recall feature banned
Brave announced that it made this decision due to Recall’s impact on user privacy. The company announced that the feature will be automatically disabled for the Brave browser on Windows 11 and later.
Users can manually re-enable the feature if they wish, but the default setting is to disable Recall. Brave stated that it was inspired by Signal, which previously implemented a similar block. Brave reportedly implemented this block by leveraging specific software controls Microsoft provides to browsers.
AdGuard, on the other hand, has taken a more strident stance against the Recall feature. In a statement published on its official blog, the company argued that this system poses a direct threat to user privacy.
AdGuard noted that the idea of constantly taking screenshots in the background is particularly troubling, noting that this could lead to the unintentional recording of users’ sensitive information—for example, private conversations, credit card forms, or personal notes.
The Recall feature first appeared with Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs. The system, which allows users to view their computer usage history, offers the ability to search and analyze this history in context, powered by artificial intelligence.
However, for the system to work, the user’s screen must be automatically recorded at regular intervals. This has raised concerns that it could pose serious risks, especially in applications and browsers with high security sensitivity.
Signal was the first application to block Recall. The application criticized Microsoft’s failure to grant developers granular control over the system, arguing that this approach was unacceptable from a user security perspective. Now, Brave and AdGuard are taking the same step, indicating that opposition to the Recall feature is growing.
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