3 ms·

I have not seen any evidence that it actually ever sends any captured data over the internet... wouldn't that be a prerequisite for most definitions of 'spyware

I have not seen any evidence that it actually ever sends any captured data over the internet... wouldn't that be a prerequisite for most definitions of 'spyware'? There's also OpenRecall if you prefer a FOSS solution.

Bender 1y ago
If it is stored locally that is the same as stored remotely as far as I am concerned. I have decades of experience with Microsoft to know better than to trust their pinky-promises. I do not need to wait and see evidence each time Microsoft does something shady. It might take a decade or more for the truth to leak out. If some form of AI is running locally it can extract summarized information and upload it in a tiny file much like Discord can silently transcribe voice to obfuscated and compressed text in the background for private chats. Anything that even smells like Recall must be opt in and give people good incentives to install it even before considering the possibility of anything being uploaded. If there isn't anything shady occurring then I should be able to click "Uninstall" in apps and it removes all the code. If I can't single click remove it there is a reason. Regarding FOSS, whether a tool is open or closed source does not expose the dark patterns that can be implemented by the operator which in this case is not the owner of the laptop or workstation. I can do nefarious things with open source tools, as can Microsoft. They are the administrators of this service running on peoples machines. I can use powershell to upload files from a persons machine, as can Microsoft. Every operating system have all the tools a spy would need built in to gather, obfuscate and upload data silently in the background.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- JonChesterfield 1y ago
  The problem there is the decades. They've done an extremely solid job with PR over the last five, maybe ten years. Now everyone knows Microsoft are lovely people making everything better. The prior behaviour can perhaps be forgotten. Though they acquired github (to be nice) and fed all the GPL'ed code they could find into LLMs (to be nice) and now open source is moribund, which is rather in keeping with the effect of previous strategic moves, but sort of plausibly deniable as an aggregate effect.

Bender 1y ago

If it is stored locally that is the same as stored remotely as far as I am concerned. I have decades of experience with Microsoft to know better than to trust their pinky-promises. I do not need to wait and see evidence each time Microsoft does something shady. It might take a decade or more for the truth to leak out. If some form of AI is running locally it can extract summarized information and upload it in a tiny file much like Discord can silently transcribe voice to obfuscated and compressed text in the background for private chats. Anything that even smells like Recall must be opt in and give people good incentives to install it even before considering the possibility of anything being uploaded. If there isn't anything shady occurring then I should be able to click "Uninstall" in apps and it removes all the code. If I can't single click remove it there is a reason. Regarding FOSS, whether a tool is open or closed source does not expose the dark patterns that can be implemented by the operator which in this case is not the owner of the laptop or workstation. I can do nefarious things with open source tools, as can Microsoft. They are the administrators of this service running on peoples machines. I can use powershell to upload files from a persons machine, as can Microsoft. Every operating system have all the tools a spy would need built in to gather, obfuscate and upload data silently in the background.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
JonChesterfield 1y ago
The problem there is the decades. They've done an extremely solid job with PR over the last five, maybe ten years. Now everyone knows Microsoft are lovely people making everything better. The prior behaviour can perhaps be forgotten. Though they acquired github (to be nice) and fed all the GPL'ed code they could find into LLMs (to be nice) and now open source is moribund, which is rather in keeping with the effect of previous strategic moves, but sort of plausibly deniable as an aggregate effect.