Brave Browser Blocks Microsoft Recall from Tracking Online Activity

Brave browser has announced a new privacy measure, automatically blocking Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature from taking screenshots of browsing activity. This move, implemented in version 1.81 for Windows users, aims to give users more control over their digital privacy, especially concerning their online history.

What is Microsoft Recall?

Microsoft Recall, first introduced in May 2024, is designed as a productivity tool for Copilot+ PCs, which are high-end, AI-enhanced computers. It works by taking periodic screenshots of a user’s screen activity and storing them in a local, searchable database. The idea is to allow users to easily ‘recall’ past actions and information using natural language queries, for instance, finding a website visited that featured specific content.

However, from its initial announcement, Recall faced significant criticism from privacy advocates and security experts. Early versions stored these screenshots in plain text, making them highly vulnerable if a system got compromised. While Microsoft has since made changes, including making Recall an opt-in feature and encrypting the data, concerns about a persistent, OS-level log of user activity remain.

Brave’s Proactive Privacy Stance

Brave’s Privacy Team specified that Recall contradicts the browser’s privacy-first mission. To address this, Brave has expanded upon Microsoft’s existing privacy commitment to not record private browsing sessions. Therefore, Brave now signals to the operating system that all Brave browser windows are “private,” effectively preventing Recall from capturing any screenshots from them by default.

This approach ensures user browsing activity does not “accidentally end up in a persistent database,” which the Brave Privacy Team highlighted as particularly sensitive in cases like intimate partner violence. Details on this implementation were discussed in a relevant thread on the Brave GitHub repository. Details on this implementation were discussed in a relevant thread on the Brave GitHub repository.

While inspired by similar screenshot-blocking efforts from messaging platforms like Signal, Brave’s method is designed to avoid interfering with other legitimate functions, such as accessibility tools or regular screenshots. Users who wish to allow Recall to capture their Brave Browser can manually adjust a setting within brave://settings/privacy.

Ongoing Changes and User Control

This step comes as Microsoft is enhancing Recall, a feature currently in preview, with its final release form for all Windows 11 users remaining uncertain. The Brave Privacy Team has acknowledged that Microsoft has made several security and privacy-enhancing modifications to Recall due to initial concerns.

However, the rapid emergence of bypasses to Microsoft’s initial fixes, such as CVE-2025-53770 and CVE-2025-53771, indicates an ongoing challenge for software developers in securing against such deep-level system monitoring.

Nonetheless, Brave’s action reinforces its commitment to user privacy by offering a strong default defence against features that could potentially log extensive personal data.