{"id":23506,"date":"2025-07-26T12:00:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/23506\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T12:00:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T12:00:19","slug":"brave-and-adguard-now-block-microsoft-recall-by-default","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/23506\/","title":{"rendered":"Brave and AdGuard now block Microsoft Recall by default"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brave web browser and the ad-blocker AdGuard have both announced<\/a> that they are blocking Microsoft Recall by default<\/a>. For the uninitiated, Recall is an AI-powered tool that accompanies Windows 11 and it records everything on a PC’s screen<\/a>. It’s pretty obvious why a privacy-minded web browser like Brave and an ad-blocker would make this move.<\/p>\n

AdGuard said the decision was made due to a “privacy concern,” going on to say that “the very idea of background screen captures is unsettling.” A blog post on the matter suggested that the tool could “snap a screenshot of a private chat window, an online form where you\u2019re entering your credit card or simply something personal you didn\u2019t want saved.”<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udea8 Microsoft Recall \u2014 new threat or improvement?<\/p>\n

In May 2024, Microsoft introduced a new feature in Windows 11 that was actively taking screenshots of everything happening on the screen, including messages in WhatsApp and Signal. These screenshots were stored on the device\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/C97KDylXPj<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 AdGuard (@AdGuard) July 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Brave also cited privacy concerns, suggesting that a user’s “entire browsing history” could be captured by the tool. “We think it\u2019s vital that your browsing activity on Brave does not accidentally end up in a persistent database, which is especially ripe for abuse in highly-privacy-sensitive cases,” the company wrote in a blog post.<\/p>\n

The chat app Signal made a similar move back in May<\/a>, urging “AI teams building systems like Recall” to think “through these implications more carefully in the future.” Brave says it was “partly inspired” by Signal.<\/p>\n

AdGuard and Brave both offer toggles to bring Recall back into the mix. Microsoft’s controversial tool lets people jump to whatever was previously on a screen. This includes web pages, images, documents, emails, chat threads or whatever else. It actually sounds like a pretty nifty productivity tool, despite the privacy concerns. It’s available with some Copilot+ PCs.<\/p>\n