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Microsoft’s Recall feature is still threat to privacy despite recent tweaks

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  • Your characterization of both of those events is inaccurate and aggressively framed in opposite directions, and I'm very curious to know why.

    I mean, forget the MS bashing, go nuts on them. Why treat Apple any differently? Back in the day they at least were the underdog, but now? What's with that?

    You asked, and the author of the article asked, by proxy “buhwhy no one mad at apple for same thing” and I’m saying they weren’t the same thing. Apple deserves distinctly different shit. It’s not only my “characterization,” it accords with reality, and is why the author and you don’t see people as mad at apple for doing a different, differently shitty thing.

    it’s also funny how you can tilt an average lemmy user by somehow saying bad shit about MS and Apple at the same time, I guess

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  • that’s because “Apple Intelligence” is nearly 100% vaporware

    And there's new rumours they'll give up and get Gemini

  • It is a stereotype but Apple diehards seem to go along with whatever Apple pushes, and people who don't like them don't use them anyways. Meanwhile Windows and Linux seems to have more people who are nitpicky about what they use, so group that tends to complain is going to be complaining more loudly about the OS they use would be my guess.

  • It is a stereotype but Apple diehards seem to go along with whatever Apple pushes, and people who don't like them don't use them anyways. Meanwhile Windows and Linux seems to have more people who are nitpicky about what they use, so group that tends to complain is going to be complaining more loudly about the OS they use would be my guess.

    I do think you have a point about how Apple users tend to live with Apple choices while everybody else mostly ignores them. I think this manifests in less of a taking sides thing. Linux activists definitely root against Windows, sometimes more than they root for Linux, and they certainly don't put the same amount of energy on Apple hostility.

    I think this is wider than that, though. Linux and Apple users aren't nearly as focused on their own quirks and foibles, but everybody loves to dunk on MS. Not that I don't, necessarily, but sometimes the difference in attitude jumps at me.

    It's not just them, either. There's a subset of companies, like Epic or Mozilla that get this a lot. It's more so in gaming circles (EA! Ubisoft! Activision!) but not just there.

  • I do think you have a point about how Apple users tend to live with Apple choices while everybody else mostly ignores them. I think this manifests in less of a taking sides thing. Linux activists definitely root against Windows, sometimes more than they root for Linux, and they certainly don't put the same amount of energy on Apple hostility.

    I think this is wider than that, though. Linux and Apple users aren't nearly as focused on their own quirks and foibles, but everybody loves to dunk on MS. Not that I don't, necessarily, but sometimes the difference in attitude jumps at me.

    It's not just them, either. There's a subset of companies, like Epic or Mozilla that get this a lot. It's more so in gaming circles (EA! Ubisoft! Activision!) but not just there.

    Linux activists definitely root against Windows

    That is at least in part because Windows has actively undermined Linux for years, and the older ones of us also remember M$ killing OS/2 (&Novell on tge server side) and learnt our lesson not to trust them even when it looks like they're playing nice

  • In fairness they’re not the same thing - recall records everything you do making a nice single honeypot of all your actions. Apple’s thing is really just a search bar that can reach into apps like email, calendar, etc - it’s not recording your bank logins. Google Play Services tracks everything you do on Android and sells it to advertisers.

  • Linux activists definitely root against Windows

    That is at least in part because Windows has actively undermined Linux for years, and the older ones of us also remember M$ killing OS/2 (&Novell on tge server side) and learnt our lesson not to trust them even when it looks like they're playing nice

    Corporations aren't people. Brands aren't people.

    I feel like in these online conversations where everybody is mostly just viscerally reacting to a headline people forget that a lot, and that worries me about as much as the underlying subjects of conversation.

    I'll be honest, I'm about as exhausted with both sides of that argument. I use both Linux and Windows daily and I have zero patience for people parading out this type of train of thought. I care about what works and, for obvious reasons, I'd much prefer if the effective default was free and open source, but the "We root against Windows because it was mean to us" thing is a borderline non-sequitur as far as I'm concerned.

  • In fairness they’re not the same thing - recall records everything you do making a nice single honeypot of all your actions. Apple’s thing is really just a search bar that can reach into apps like email, calendar, etc - it’s not recording your bank logins. Google Play Services tracks everything you do on Android and sells it to advertisers.

    It's a centralized search that can dig through your activity cross-platform and parses it through a centralized AI. Whether the data is stored in a log or as screenshots is a difference, but not as big of a difference as people make it out to be. It just feels intuitively weirder because one is humanly readable and the other one isn't.

    To be fair, that's my takeaway from a lot of AI backlash. A whole bunch of it is people finally getting an intuitive grasp on activities that big data has been doing for years or decades and it finally clicking into shock because they can anthropomorphise the inputs and outputs better.

    No wonder the techbros have lost their intuititon for what will trigger backlash. In many cases they've been doing far worse than those things with zero awareness or pushback.

  • It also probably helps that it is easy to ignore Apple and there might not be a feeling of missing out for those who don't care for the Apple ecosystem. As big as Apple is it is kind of niche in the sense that a Windows or Linux user can just ignore its existence and not feel affected.

    But, when it comes to Windows there's lot of mainstream software, games, and even hardware compatibility that is affected by Windows dominance. Stuff like wine and proton being needed and not getting the same video card driver support leads to more resentment Windows actually having offerings people who tend to complain want.

  • Corporations aren't people. Brands aren't people.

    I feel like in these online conversations where everybody is mostly just viscerally reacting to a headline people forget that a lot, and that worries me about as much as the underlying subjects of conversation.

    I'll be honest, I'm about as exhausted with both sides of that argument. I use both Linux and Windows daily and I have zero patience for people parading out this type of train of thought. I care about what works and, for obvious reasons, I'd much prefer if the effective default was free and open source, but the "We root against Windows because it was mean to us" thing is a borderline non-sequitur as far as I'm concerned.

    Setting aside the fact that legally a corporation actually is a person, there is such a thing as a corporate culture, and a corporate ethos.

    Let's start with an old microsoft ethos: embrace extend extinguish

    Now don't try to tell me I made it up, there's enough evidence for it to have its own wiki page.

    Similarly there's FUD an approach they most certainly didnt invent but did an excellent job of weaponising to a fine art.

    And so on and so forth. Those of us who have been around a while know the true shape of it, and that leopard has never changed its spots.

    I got my MCSE on NT4 back when CNE was much more respected. I still work in IT so yes I too use both windows & linux, that doesn't stop me having a clear eyed view of them.

    They're also not the worst by a long chalk, google, meta, palantir are all far less principled and far more detrimental to society.

    M$ still arent good though, and its woven into their culture

  • It also probably helps that it is easy to ignore Apple and there might not be a feeling of missing out for those who don't care for the Apple ecosystem. As big as Apple is it is kind of niche in the sense that a Windows or Linux user can just ignore its existence and not feel affected.

    But, when it comes to Windows there's lot of mainstream software, games, and even hardware compatibility that is affected by Windows dominance. Stuff like wine and proton being needed and not getting the same video card driver support leads to more resentment Windows actually having offerings people who tend to complain want.

    I think there's something to the idea that Apple walls its garden so well people outside the wall don't care about what happens inside it even when they disagree with it on principle.

    I think you're underplaying how big the garden is, though. You are thinking about this just in terms of PC OSs, but that's not where Apple's biggest presence is.

  • One could argue that it's a feature that could be done on-client without sending to a server. Or with its server component doing nothing more than syncing with E2E encryption.

    I have zero interest in Recall, but I thought it was already done on-device? IIRC it always was that way, which is why it's only available on new computers containing dedicated "neural coprocessors" I believe was the term.

    Now given that it's closed source, you have to trust that they aren't silently sending data back to themselves - which is where my problem lies, I don't trust them in the slightest.

  • Part of why i knew so-called "digital rights management" was fucking bullshit was because very little software ever came out that empowered me to manage MY OWN rights in the digital space.

    I need there to be FOSS applications that allow me to root-level BLOCK applications from perceiving what I'm doing, to just fucking SANDBOX ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING BY DEFAULT and let me whitelist what specific things are allowed to directly access the hardware.

    Sadly I am not as tech savvy as I used to think I was. I might've been technologically clever twenty years ago but I hadn't managed to keep up... I think what I've described might be referred to as a "hypervisor"? And I'm told it's an overbearing, clumsy, heavy-handed overkill measure that would be difficult to implement and make everything a pain in the ass to do. So ... shit, man, I dunno... i'm just so damn tired of my hardware being bossed around by people I didn't authorize.

    A "hypervisor" is more applicable to servers than anything else, but I agree with you on everything else. That first sentence, man... Big companies get DRM for their property, so where's my DRM, y'know?

    Fucking maddening.

  • The worst thing about it is, even if you switch to Linux for privacy yourself, you'll also need your friends to switch as well, otherwise if you message them on their desktop, they're a liability, as the damn recall will be there too, leaking your data.

    It'll be hell for activists.

    The same has been true of email for years, but less bad. Activists will need to be even more careful in who they trust.

  • Yes.

    Worth it.

  • I have zero interest in Recall, but I thought it was already done on-device? IIRC it always was that way, which is why it's only available on new computers containing dedicated "neural coprocessors" I believe was the term.

    Now given that it's closed source, you have to trust that they aren't silently sending data back to themselves - which is where my problem lies, I don't trust them in the slightest.

    You can verify that nothing is being sent back by watching network traffic. I guess they could hide it in update packets, but thats pretty unlikely.

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    I've disabled windows update completely so I can pick and manually dl updates. Never going to put that recall shit on my pc.

  • Of course it is. It's invasive by design. The "recent tweaks" were because of backlash, but now that's died down

    on purpose. they announce something absurd, so people get mad, and they step down to something they wanted anyway (and even pass the impression they are listening to their users opinions)

  • I have zero interest in Recall, but I thought it was already done on-device? IIRC it always was that way, which is why it's only available on new computers containing dedicated "neural coprocessors" I believe was the term.

    Now given that it's closed source, you have to trust that they aren't silently sending data back to themselves - which is where my problem lies, I don't trust them in the slightest.

    I'll admit I've not looked into it. My computer won't even upgrade to Windows 11 if I wanted it to, thanks to MS's artificial restriction on compatibility. Maybe it is all on-device. But if so, whence all the privacy complaints? And does it not allow syncing between devices?

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    Does it mean that some people take orders from AI and don't know it's AI ?
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    If you're a developer, a startup founder, or part of a small team, you've poured countless hours into building your web application. You've perfected the UI, optimized the database, and shipped features your users love. But in the rush to build and deploy, a critical question often gets deferred: is your application secure? For many, the answer is a nervous "I hope so." The reality is that without a proper defense, your application is exposed to a barrage of automated attacks hitting the web every second. Threats like SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and Remote Code Execution are not just reserved for large enterprises; they are constant dangers for any application with a public IP address. The Security Barrier: When Cost and Complexity Get in the Way The standard recommendation is to place a Web Application Firewall (WAF) in front of your application. A WAF acts as a protective shield, inspecting incoming traffic and filtering out malicious requests before they can do any damage. It’s a foundational piece of modern web security. So, why doesn't everyone have one? Historically, robust WAFs have been complex and expensive. They required significant budgets, specialized knowledge to configure, and ongoing maintenance, putting them out of reach for students, solo developers, non-profits, and early-stage startups. This has created a dangerous security divide, leaving the most innovative and resource-constrained projects the most vulnerable. But that is changing. Democratizing Security: The Power of a Community WAF Security should be a right, not a privilege. Recognizing this, the landscape is shifting towards more accessible, community-driven tools. The goal is to provide powerful, enterprise-grade protection to everyone, for free. This is the principle behind the HaltDos Community WAF. It's a no-cost, perpetually free Web Application Firewall designed specifically for the community that has been underserved for too long. It’s not a stripped-down trial version; it’s a powerful security tool designed to give you immediate and effective protection against the OWASP Top 10 and other critical web threats. What Can You Actually Do with It? With a community WAF, you can deploy a security layer in minutes that: Blocks Malicious Payloads: Get instant, out-of-the-box protection against common attack patterns like SQLi, XSS, RCE, and more. Stops Bad Bots: Prevent malicious bots from scraping your content, attempting credential stuffing, or spamming your forms. Gives You Visibility: A real-time dashboard shows you exactly who is trying to attack your application and what methods they are using, providing invaluable security intelligence. Allows Customization: You can add your own custom security rules to tailor the protection specifically to your application's logic and technology stack. The best part? It can be deployed virtually anywhere—on-premises, in a private cloud, or with any major cloud provider like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud. Get Started in Minutes You don't need to be a security guru to use it. The setup is straightforward, and the value is immediate. Protecting the project, you've worked so hard on is no longer a question of budget. Download: Get the free Community WAF from the HaltDos site. Deploy: Follow the simple instructions to set it up with your web server (it’s compatible with Nginx, Apache, and others). Secure: Watch the dashboard as it begins to inspect your traffic and block threats in real-time. Security is a journey, but it must start somewhere. For developers, startups, and anyone running a web application on a tight budget, a community WAF is the perfect first step. It's powerful, it's easy, and it's completely free.
  • autofocus glasses

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    Hm. Checking my glasses I think there is something on the top too. I can see distance ever so slightly clearer looking out the top. If I remember right, I have a minus .25 in one eye. Always been told it didn't need correction, but maybe it is in this pair. I should go get some off the shelf progressive readers and try those.
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    Niemand hat geantwortet
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    So they.just reinvented the DVB-T tuner. Edit: I looked it up and it's literally just that. The fact they're shoving it into feature phones is interesting.
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    By giving us the choice of whether someone else should profit by our data. Same as I don't want someone looking over my shoulder and copying off my test answers.
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    Take a longer text (like 70 pages or so) and try to delete the first 30 pages.
  • *deleted by creator*

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    I feel like I'm in those years of You really want a 3d TV, right? Right? 3D is what you've been waiting for, right? all over again, but with a different technology. It will be VR's turn again next. I admit I'm really rooting for affordable, real-world, daily-use AR though.