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Signal has up to date its Windows app to guard customers’ privateness by blocking Microsoft’s AI-powered Recall function from taking screenshots of their conversations.
This new privateness function, dubbed “display safety,” is now enabled by default on all Windows 11 gadgets, the place Recall constantly takes screenshots of all lively home windows each few seconds and analyzes them to construct a database that may be searched utilizing pure language.
When enabled, display safety will set a Digital Rights Management (DRM) flag on Signal’s app home windows, blocking their content material from being captured by Recall or different Windows apps and options.
Microsoft launched Recall in May 2024 when safety consultants described it as a privateness nightmare and a major safety threat as a result of attackers may simply weaponize it to steal person information.
To handle these considerations, Microsoft made Recall a detachable opt-in function that requires customers to check in utilizing Windows Hello and upgraded it to filter out delicate info (like credentials and bank card numbers) and to exclude some apps, web sites, or personal looking periods from being captured.
David Weston, Microsoft’s VP for Enterprise and OS Security, additionally mentioned in September that Microsoft added rate-limiting and anti-hammering safety in opposition to malware assaults to Recall, in addition to the power to regulate storage settings, delete snapshots, and switch off saving snapshots utterly.
“Although Microsoft made a number of changes over the previous twelve months in response to vital suggestions, the revamped model of Recall nonetheless locations any content material that is displayed inside privacy-preserving apps like Signal in danger,” Signal developer Joshua Lund mentioned in a Wednesday weblog put up.
“As a consequence, we’re enabling an additional layer of safety by default on Windows 11 so as to assist keep the safety of Signal Desktop on that platform despite the fact that it introduces some usability trade-offs. Microsoft has merely given us no different choice.”
Signal’s display safety would possibly trigger points with display readers, so those that wish to flip it off can accomplish that from Signal Settings > Privacy > Screen safety.
Signal may even present an alert earlier than turning off display safety, warning that Windows can take screenshots of their Signal chats as soon as the function is disabled.
“Apps like Signal have primarily no management over what content material Recall is ready to seize, and implementing ‘DRM’ that works for you (not in opposition to you) is your best option that we had,” Lund added.
”We hope that the AI groups constructing techniques like Recall will suppose by way of these implications extra rigorously sooner or later. Apps like Signal should not must implement ‘one bizarre trick’ so as to keep the privateness and integrity of their providers with out correct developer instruments. People who care about privateness should not be compelled to sacrifice accessibility upon the altar of AI aspirations both.”
However, as Lund added, enabling Signal’s display safety in your machine won’t shield in opposition to screenshots or recordings by others utilizing display readers on macOS or Linux gadgets.
In April, nearly one yr after its introduction, Microsoft began rolling out Windows Recall to all clients who put in the Windows 11 KB5055627 replace on Copilot+ PCs.
One month later, the corporate made it typically out there to everybody who put in the May 2025 Patch Tuesday updates.
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