UK watchdog looking into Microsoft AI taking screenshots

dvdnet62@feddit.nl to Technology@lemmy.ml – 159 points –
Microsoft Copilot+ Recall feature 'privacy nightmare'
bbc.com
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I wouldn't say that's particularly surprising. Most people in Lemmy and similar platforms have been here since the mass exodus from Reddit, or are programmers themselves. These groups are usually more privacy-minded, and see this as a significant privacy issue. This doesn't really necessarily mean it's an echo chamber though, I've seen a lot of people talk about how they use and like Windows, and I think the reason why they downvoted your comment (making an assumption here, I don't see downvotes in my instance) is because it seems to be completely unprompted by anything or anyone, and a bit abrasive.

That just so happens to describe me to a T. I'm a privacy-minded programmer who came here as part of the Reddit exodus. Because I'm a programmer and am aware of how these AIs function, I am not overly concerned about them and appreciate the capabilities they provide to me. I'm aware of the risks and how to manage them.

The comment I was responding to brought up "Linux is better" unprompted. But that's in line with the echo, so I guess that's fine.

  • I'm a privacy-minded programmer
  • I'm (...) aware of how these AIs function
  • I am not overly concerned about them

Objectively, these three statements form a paradox. At least one statement has to be false.

I'm not overly concerned because I know how to use these things. I know what they do, and so when one of them is doing something concerning I turn it off.

People are frightened of things they don't understand, and it's apparent that lots of people don't understand AI.

Good luck turning off the corporate AI's scraping your data from whatever websites you use to profit off of it!

This thread isn't about websites, it's about functions built into operating systems. Those are generally much more configurable. Microsoft wants corporations to run Windows, after all, and corporations tend to be very touchy about this sort of thing.