Brave Browser Block Microsoft Recall Over Privacy Issues

Brave Software today announced that, beginning with version 1.81 for Windows 11 and newer, the Brave browser will automatically disable Microsoft’s Recall feature by default.

Recall, introduced by Microsoft in May 2024 as a Copilot PC utility that periodically captures full-screen snapshots of user activity, faced immediate criticism for its potential to expose sensitive browsing habits through an unencrypted, local database.

With Brave’s proactive countermeasure, users’ browsing sessions in Brave will remain invisible to Recall’s automated screenshot process unless explicitly reactivated.

Microsoft first revealed Recall in the spring of 2024, positioning it as a productivity aid that could save users from losing context when switching tasks or revisiting past work.

Almost immediately, security researchers and privacy advocates condemned the feature for its reliance on plaintext storage of screenshots captured every few seconds.

Experts warned that any software or malicious actor with local access could exploit the unencrypted database, potentially harvesting users’ private searches, messages, and documents.

Under mounting pressure, Microsoft temporarily rolled Recall back for revision in June 2024, pledging to address the shortcomings in security and privacy.

Despite the initial retraction, Recall has since resurfaced in the Windows Insider program’s Release Preview channel, leaving privacy-conscious users apprehensive about its looming general availability.

Recognizing the unresolved risks, Brave’s privacy and security team—led by Senior Software Engineer Pavel Beloborodov and Principal Engineer Brian Johnson and overseen by VP of Privacy and Security Shivan Kaul Sahib—opted to block Recall’s screenshot capability across all Brave tabs.

“Brave exists to safeguard user privacy by default,” explained Kaul Sahib. “We cannot risk users’ browsing histories being recorded without their explicit consent.”

Under the hood, Brave achieves its blockade by extending Microsoft’s own private browsing exclusion for Recall to every Brave window.

According to Microsoft documentation, Recall refrains from capturing snapshots in private or incognito sessions. Brave engineers leveraged this behavior by flagging all Brave tabs as ‘private’ at the operating‐system level, effectively telling Recall to bypass them.

How to turn Recall back on

1. Go to Settings > Privacy and security (or via brave://settings/privacy)
2. Turn off Block Microsoft Recall

The implementation required a minor tweak to Chromium’s privacy protocol, demonstrating Brave’s agility in augmenting its open‐source foundation to enhance user protection.

In contrast, other applications such as Signal have taken a more drastic approach by invoking a digital rights management flag that disables all screenshot capabilities, thus preventing Recall but also blocking legitimate accessibility tools like screen readers.

Brave’s finer‐grained method preserves ordinary screenshot and screen‐capture functions while neutralizing Recall alone, ensuring that users do not lose any native functionality.

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