Global (Commonwealth Union) _ Brave Browser has announced that it will block Microsoft’s Recall tool by default in its upcoming version 1.81 release in response to growing uneasiness within the tech privacy community. A feature that incessantly captures screenshots of user activity on Windows machines, Recall has become the subject of scrutiny due to its potential to store highly sensitive information without the explicit knowledge of users.
Unlike other browsers, including Chrome, Edge, Firefox, DuckDuckGo, and Tor, Brave has taken the unusual step of configuring all browser tabs to appear as private sessions to the operating system, which prevents Recall from storing screenshots of browsing sessions without disabling the feature entirely. In a blog post, Brave stated that their main objective was to avoid having browser activity “accidentally end up in a persistent database,” especially in situations involving privacy-sensitive use cases.
This move makes Brave the first major browser to implement a Recall-specific mitigation. The company stated that it utilised an existing Recall exception that applies to private windows and extended it to every tab, effectively deceiving the operating system into treating all browser activity as private. They also clarified that while the update will be blocking Recall as a default setting, users will retain the option to re-enable the feature through Brave’s settings under Privacy and Security.
Microsoft has not yet provided extensive developer-level controls for Recall. This limitation has previously led some app developers, such as the encrypted messaging service Signal, to respond by disabling screenshots entirely. However, the approach was seen to interfere with accessibility tools such as screen readers and native screenshot features.
Brave’s method avoids the unintended side effects by working within Microsoft’s existing framework. The company also used the announcement to encourage Microsoft to expand opt-out options to other developers. “While it’s heartening that Microsoft recognizes that Web browsers are especially privacy-sensitive applications,” Brave said, “we hope they offer the same granular ability to turn off Recall to all privacy-minded application developers.”
