Microsoft: "we gonna screenshot every 3 seconds and feed it to Windows 11's AI assistant."

Signal: "This dangerous. Please put option to disable"

Microsoft: "No! Everything will be fed to the AI, except DRM protected content of course."

Microsoft: .....

Microsoft: ".. Don't you dare-"

Signal: *Calls to DRM API to protect user privacy*

@morgann
> Privacy: DRM saves the day
was not a headline i expected to read
Sounds like an unintended side effect. DRM was never intended to benefit the user.
@kasperd @morgann @elsactivitypub
I've found that disabling DRM video in my browser is quite effective at disabling autoplay videos on news articles, too!

@kasperd @morgann @elsactivitypub It's usually not suitable for any user-friendly purpose.

Years ago I worked with folks who were analysing if the DRM hardware could be (ab)used for privacy measures in UI. It could not.

@kasperd

@morgann @elsactivitypub

But doesn't it stands for
Digital Restriction Management? 😄

@elsactivitypub @morgann I am surprised nobody thought of using DRMs before this
@morgann I just love Signal !
First time I heard about their shenanigans was the Unix timestamp given to the FBI.

@jaggi Ah yes the famous:

  • Hi FBI here give us everything about this phone number. Now!
  • You have a warrant?!
  • Yes we do now.
  • Okay… let me check.
  • Don't try to hide anything!
  • And here it is, the phone number, and it's last connection timestamp. As requested.
  • WHAT?!
  • That's all we have. Hope to never see you again.

@morgann

Номер телефона? Для «Эшелона» этого достаточно.
@eragon @morgann @jaggi Although technically they do have more (as they relay messages, Signal isn't P2P).
@lanodan @morgann @eragon @jaggi and any attachments shared in a group chat exposes the IP addresses of all members that downloaded those attachments from the CDN (cloudflare)
@morgann
I mean ... it's cool that Signal can stick it up to the big corp like that ... but right now Github is fighting over the AI slop machine and what you justt posted isn't encouraging ...
If Microsoft just decide to make the recall feature mandatory, they obviously can make Copilot mandatory on repos :

RE:
https://transfem.social/notes/a872x9fk4mxg7bqa
Jaggi <3 (@jaggi)

Github hasn't fully roll out the new "Copilot Issue" thing that allows Copilot to make issue that nixpkgs is thinking about what to do with it : https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/410741 And the community post that ask for it to be blocked is the top post since 2024, and 13th of all time : https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/159749 We need to continue to tell companies that this bullshit isn't OK.

TransFem Space
@jaggi @morgann One of the many reasons I moved away from GitHub. Not a fan of this “you’re going to use this, if you like it or not” approach.
@ainmosni @morgann
yeah ... one day I will setup my own forgejo ...
By Default, Signal Doesn't Recall

Signal Desktop now includes support for a new “Screen security” setting that is designed to help prevent your own computer from capturing screenshots of your Signal chats on Windows. This setting is automatically enabled by default in Signal Desktop on Windows 11. If you’re wondering why we’re on...

Signal Messenger
@morgann @ShadowJonathan it also manages *my* rights 😤
@morgann is this even legal with regard to GDPR? 🧐

@Frieke72 @morgann

Microsoft didn't roll out that feature here in Europe as far as I know. Because they know it is problematic and they will collect arguments why it isn't against any laws. Then the judges have to decide, because there will definitely be lawsuits.

@seism0saurus @morgann thx!

My partner found info about how to find it on registry. He checked today and it's not on his pc. So that matches your info.

Thanks for his having started pc in the golden age of dos 😝

@Frieke72 @seism0saurus @morgann

Nice to have confirmation that I did not miss anything, thank you. I (EU citizen) searched my new laptop for Recall from top to bottom & inside out, but didn't find it.

Copilot is easy to disable too, except the logo is rather stubborn.

@Frieke72 @morgann Recall does not send the data anywhere, so I don’t think GDPR is relevant
@mxey @Frieke72 @morgann GDPR is also about processing digital data and having user data or medical data or other sensitive data processed by the AI is not covered in any contracts with the user. You must declare upfront how you process and store data and who is doing it and for what purpose.
@morgann it's only DRM if it protects corpo interests. Otherwise it's just sparkling automated AI blocker.
@morgann funny thing, its working properly for signal, tried to screenshot a message to forward and it's not working anymore ;)

@morgann (*six months later*)

Microsoft Announces Enhanced Media Protection Registration

REDMOND, WA -- Microsoft announced a new registration requirement for all applications wishing to protect media using its DRM facilities. Previously, any program could use MS DRM to hide content from anti-virus and malware scanners. Now, authors must first register with Microsoft and be granted an API key before they may use DRM. Applicants not meeting MS's requirements will be denied a key...

@morgann This is the first time I remember of DRM being used for the good of users.
How to disable or uninstall Windows Recall

Want to turn off or remove Windows 11's built-in Recall feature? Here's how.

Windows Central
@morgann the fun part is that MS is doing the same for Teams and blocks screenshots and recording.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-teams-will-soon-block-screen-capture-during-meetings/
Microsoft Teams will soon block screen capture during meetings

Microsoft is working on adding a new Teams feature that will prevent users from capturing screenshots of sensitive information shared during meetings.

BleepingComputer
@stoeps @morgann Why should they need to extract the content from screenshots, if they can read the content directly on their servers?
Next thing is advertising Teams as 'privacy preserving'.
@tadi @stoeps @morgann because Recall works completely locally
@morgann weaponizing DMCA against operating systems ...
@morgann I wonder how much (other) spyware was broken by this change. How many spy agencies are now seeing black windows instead of that sweet, sweet unencrypted communication?
@morgann Don’t worry, this hack/workaround is only temporary, and Microsoft will most likely disable/forbid it for applications that don’t really run copyrighted content in the near future, one way or another. 😬
@jor @morgann so signal has to add a music video to every message an user sends?!
@morgann So Microsoft is saying that AI shouldn’t use intellectual property without permission?
@morgann
Note that Microsoft intentionally uses the rather ambiguous word “snapshot” and not “screenshot” to describe what they’re doing here. The investigation conducted by The Verge last year suggests strongly that what is being recorded is text and not images, with less than 100kb of distilled data being written to the database per user and day.
@khoji @morgann startup computer, show 100,000 letters before using, continue with day

-carrie