Encrypted messaging platform Signal is rolling out a feature called Screen Security to its Windows app. It’s broadly a way to prevent a computer from logging screenshots of your messages when the app is open, but in a blog post, the company directly called out the Recall feature in Windows 11 as the reason for this new capability.
Signal explained that what it essentially did was to flag its application as protected by Digital Rights Management (DRM), because content under that umbrella will not be recorded in a screenshot on a Windows device. It’s the same reason that a movie streaming from Netflix will appear in screenshots as a black box. Screen Security will be on by default, but this setting can be easily disabled for cases where a user does need to be able to access the application, such as when using a screen reader.
“We hope that the AI teams building systems like Recall will think through these implications more carefully in the future,” the company said. “Apps like Signal shouldn’t have to implement ‘one weird trick’ in order to maintain the privacy and integrity of their services without proper developer tools.”
The Recall feature in Windows 11 has had a difficult and well-delayed development process. While the AI-powered tool to record everything on a PC’s screen has some potential benefits for user productivity, it’s also raised a lot of concerns about privacy and security. Although Microsoft has started rolling out Recall to Copilot+ PCs, not everyone is convinced that it’s ready for prime time.
