Microsoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) feature Recall, which has yet to be made public, apparently can’t be removed from Windows 11. It was recently announced that Windows Insiders would have access to the 24H2 test version of Windows 11.
Interestingly, that version lets users delete the feature. However, according to a report, the tech giant said that a flaw would prevent customers from uninstalling Recall from the operating system if fixed.
Deskmodder spotted the feature in the 24H2 version of Windows 11. However, the publication discovered that Recall could be uninstalled from it. Notably, the feature is still in beta and is not yet available to the general public. However, The Verge spoke with the company, who confirmed that it was a problem and that Recall will not be uninstallable in future versions.
“We are aware of an issue where Recall is incorrectly listed as an option under the ‘Turn Windows features on or off’ dialog in Control Panel. This will be fixed in an upcoming update,” the publication quoted Brandon LeBlanc, Windows Senior Product Manager as saying.
Recall, which the company first announced in June, is a key AI function for AI PCs. However, since its announcement, the function has drawn criticism from netizens. The feature captures periodic screenshots of the PC screen, and by using AI, it can answer user queries about the user’s activity.
Many users expressed concerns about the feature’s privacy and security. The screenshots were discovered to be unencrypted in the feature’s early versions, allowing anyone with physical access to the device to view them. The negative response resulted in Microsoft taking down the feature, and claiming it will be re-released later with improvements.
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The company, in the following month, announced several upgrades to the feature including adding encryption to the folder, and integration with Windows Hello security feature. The company also stated that the feature will be disabled by default and that users will have to consent to enable it.