Brave Software says its privacy-focused browser will block Microsoft's Windows Recall from capturing screenshots of Brave windows by default to protect users' privacy. In May, encrypted messenger Signal also blocked Windows Recall by enabling the DRM management flag in the program, which prevents Microsoft's software from taking screenshots of the program. Brave has now decided to proactively enable a technical feature that prevents Recall from capturing the contents of its windows. Windows Recall is an opt-in Windows feature that takes screenshots of active windows every few seconds, analyzes them, and enables Windows 11 users to search for text within the snapshots using natural language. Microsoft later increased security by providing methods for software providers to opt out of Windows Recall and by securing data with Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-in Security (ESS). "Microsoft says that a Web browser can use SetInputScope to set the scope to be IS_PRIVATE to make sure that Recall doesn't save the user's browsing history," reads the Brave GitHub issue. A Brave GitHub issue explains that developers have utilized Microsoft's SetInputScope API and set the input scope to IS_PRIVATE for all browser windows. However, the feature has sparked widespread criticism for potentially exposing sensitive data of Windows users, including passwords, emails, health records, and financial information. "Given Brave's focus on privacy-maximizing defaults and what is at stake here (your entire browsing history), we have proactively disabled Recall for all Brave tabs," reads a new Brave announcement. Lawrence Abrams Lawrence Abrams is the owner and Editor in Chief of BleepingComputer.com. Lawrence's area of expertise includes Windows, malware removal, and computer forensics.
This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Wed, 23 Jul 2025 22:45:11 +0000