Skip to content
Submit incident
AII-1002-07363
ReportedReported by fewer than three independent publishers, with no official finding.Supporting sources are pending verification.

Microsoft Recall fails to filter passwords and social security numbers

Microsoft's Windows Recall privacy filter reportedly fails to exclude passwords and social security numbers from screenshots, despite being enabled by default. Testing showed the filter inconsistently blocked sensitive financial and personal data.

1 August 2025 Β· Microsoft Β· Privacy and surveillance
1 August 2025
AII-1002-07363
Quick facts
Category
Privacy and surveillance
Country
United States
Date
1 August 2025
Drafted by
Raidu Incident Detection

What happened

Microsoft's Windows Recall, an AI app that screenshots user activity for searchable recall, includes a default 'Filter sensitive information' setting designed to exclude passwords and social security numbers from capture.

Testing by The Register found the filter fails in many cases. While it correctly excluded some financial data, account numbers, and most social security numbers, it captured screenshots containing bank account balances, deposits, and other sensitive pages despite the filter being enabled.

Reported impact

If an attacker gains access to a user's system or PIN number, including via remote access, they could obtain personal financial information, bank details, and other sensitive data captured in Recall's screenshots.

Classification

Category
Privacy and surveillance
Country
United States
Harm status
Potential harm
Intent
Unintentional
Timing
Post-deployment
Harmed
Consumers
Failure modes
Data leak, Content moderation failure
Consequences
None recorded
AI systems
Windows Recall

Sources and evidence

Sources not yet published

This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.

How sources are verifiedSuggest a source for this incident