Microsoft is set to bring back Recall, the Copilot+ feature it, well, recalled back in June just before its release due to security concerns and negative feedback. Today, the company released a detailed blog post authored by president, OS security and enterprise David Weston explaining all of the security-based changes that it made to Recall. The blog post doesn't list a specific release date for the feature, but Microsoft previously said Insiders would see Recall come back in October.
Weston reiterated that Recall "is an opt-in experience" that you decide on when first setting up a Copilot+ PC. "If a user doesn't proactively choose to turn it on, it will be off, and snapshots will not be taken or saved," he wrote. "Users can also remove recall entirely by using the optional features settings in Windows." (This is seemingly a reversal of what Microsoft said earlier this month when Recall was found in a list of features you could disable.)
The snapshots that Recall takes will be encrypted with the Trusted Platform Module and tied to your account through Windows Hello. Weston states that the snapshots "can only be used by operations within a secure environment called a Virtualization-based security Enclave (VBS Enclave)," which prevents other users on your PCs from decrypting and seeing your information. The only data that ever leaves the enclave is what you specifically request while using Recall.
Recall is also using Windows Hello as authorization to change settings, with your Windows PIN as a fallback measure in case your camera or fingerprint reader is damaged. Microsoft says Recall will prevent malware attacks with "rate-limiting and anti-hammering measures."
Not all of this is brand new, however. Some of it has been previously detailed in previous blog posts.
