What Windows records about you: Recall, Copilot and diagnostic data
Windows now offers a feature, Recall, that saves searchable snapshots of your screen every few seconds. Windows also sends Microsoft diagnostic data about your device, and the Copilot assistant keeps your conversation history and, if you allow it, a memory of you. Microsoft documents all of this in detail, including the protections around it. The question this article explores is a different one: whether you rely on a vendor's description of what its software does, or use software whose code anyone can read and check. That is where free software and GNU/Linux come in, for privacy and security alike.
A computer that remembers what it showed you
Recall takes a snapshot of your active screen every few seconds, and whenever the window's content changes, then makes those snapshots searchable. You can type "the blue chair in that supplier's quote" and Recall finds the moment it was on your screen.
It runs only on Copilot+ PCs, a class of Windows computer with a dedicated AI processor, at least 16 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage. It reached those computers in April 2025, and Microsoft still labels it a preview.
How Microsoft says Recall is protected
Microsoft redesigned Recall's security before release, and its documentation describes the protections clearly:
- Opt-in. Saving snapshots is off until you turn it on.
- Local. Snapshots are stored and analysed on the computer. Microsoft says they are not sent to Microsoft or to third parties, and that neither Microsoft nor a company's IT administrators can view them.
- Encrypted. The snapshots and their search index are always encrypted, with keys protected by the computer's security chip and unlocked with Windows Hello, Microsoft's fingerprint or face sign-in.
- Filtered. A filter for sensitive information such as passwords and card numbers is on by default, and you can exclude apps and websites.
- Off on work computers. On computers managed by an organisation, Recall is removed by default, and administrators cannot switch on snapshot saving for their users.
That is a serious security design, and it is fair to say so.
What stays out, and what does not
Microsoft's documentation is also clear about the limits:
- Website filtering covers the tab you are looking at, in supported browsers. Microsoft notes that parts of filtered websites can still appear, for example embedded content.
- Storage is large. By default Recall may use 25 GB on a 256 GB disk and up to 150 GB on a 1 TB disk, deleting the oldest snapshots when full.
- Feedback goes to Microsoft. If you send feedback from Recall, it can include screenshots.
Most important: a searchable record of everything that passed across your screen is a valuable thing to exist at all. Its protection rests on the encryption and the sign-in holding, and on your knowing what you have excluded.
The rest of what Windows and Copilot keep
Diagnostic data. On Windows Home and Pro, Windows always sends "required" diagnostic data to Microsoft: details of the device, network, installed apps, drivers and crashes. Switching diagnostic data off entirely is available only on Enterprise, Education and Server editions. "Optional" diagnostic data, which you can decline, adds which apps you use and for how long, browsing history and search terms in Microsoft's browsers, and memory dumps that Microsoft notes may contain user content.
Copilot. Microsoft's Copilot app for personal accounts changed in August 2026. Microsoft says prompts, responses and files in the new app are not used to train its foundation models. The app keeps your chat history until you delete it, can keep a memory of details such as your topics and goals, and, for users without Microsoft 365, shows adverts that may be personalised using chat history and memories. Each of these has a control.
Trust you can check
With Windows, as with any closed software, you rely on the vendor's documentation to know what the program does. Microsoft's documentation for Recall is detailed. But nobody outside Microsoft can read the code to confirm it.
Free software works differently. The GNU Project defines it by four freedoms: to run a program for any purpose, to study how it works and change it, to share copies, and to share your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for the second freedom. In practice that means:
- Anyone can check what the code does, or pay an expert to check it for them.
- Anyone can remove what they do not want. The GNU Project notes these freedoms let users remove unwanted features.
- Builds can be verified. The Reproducible Builds project defines how anyone can rebuild a program from its published code and confirm the result is bit-for-bit identical to what was distributed.
- Problems are public. Debian, one of the oldest GNU/Linux distributions, commits in its social contract to keeping its bug database public at all times.
None of this makes free software automatically secure. It makes it checkable, which serves security and privacy together: flaws can be found by more eyes, and claims about what a program collects can be confirmed rather than taken on trust.
Windows 10 owners face the decision anyway
Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 on 14 October 2025. Home users can enrol in Extended Security Updates, which Microsoft now says run until 12 October 2027, providing critical and important security fixes only. Every Windows 10 computer still in use needs a plan before then: new hardware for Windows 11, or a different operating system. Many of those computers run GNU/Linux well. Our earlier article on how the new Outlook sends your mailbox to Microsoft's cloud covers a related choice for email.
Where Noiz fits
If your business runs servers, Noiz Cloud servers come with Debian or Ubuntu, and our Linux administration service looks after a GNU/Linux server once, by the hour or on a monthly basis, whether it runs on Noiz Cloud or elsewhere. Ask about it in a support ticket, and browse our Linux help articles to get started.
Sources
Checked 19 October 2026.
Microsoft
- Retrace your steps with Recall
- Manage Recall for Windows clients
- Windows Experience Blog, Update on Recall security and privacy architecture (September 2024)
- Windows Experience Blog, Copilot+ PCs with more AI features (April 2025)
- Configure Windows diagnostic data in your organisation
- Microsoft Privacy Statement
- Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your activity history
- Microsoft Copilot privacy controls
- Windows 10 Home and Pro lifecycle
- Windows 10 Consumer Extended Security Updates
Free software
- GNU Project, What is free software?
- GNU Project, Linux and the GNU system
- Open Source Initiative, The Open Source Definition
- Reproducible Builds, Definitions
- Debian Social Contract
Noiz
Note: while some of this content was produced with the help of AI, the final editing has been done by a real human being.
