Introduction Of Windows
Signal is stepping up its privacy game. The secure messaging app just rolled out a new update for its Windows app that blocks the system from taking screenshots of your chats — by default.
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This new “Screen Security” feature is specifically designed for Windows 11 users and is Signal’s direct response to Microsoft’s Recall feature. If you missed the memo, Recall is an AI-powered tool that continuously takes screenshots of everything happening on your screen. The idea? To help users scroll back in time and revisit past activities. The problem? It also captures sensitive content — including private conversations.
Although Microsoft paused the feature’s release last year due to major privacy concerns, testing resumed this April via the Windows Preview Channel. To its credit, Microsoft has made Recall opt-in and added a pause button, but Signal isn’t convinced that’s enough. The company says that even with these tweaks, Recall still poses a real privacy risk.
With Screen Security enabled, anyone trying to grab a screenshot of your Signal chat will get a blank screen instead. It’s a simple but effective way to keep your messages from ending up in your system history — or anywhere else they shouldn’t be.
There is a tradeoff, though: enabling this feature may interfere with tools like screen readers, which assist visually impaired users. If you need to turn it off, you can do so by going to Signal Settings > Privacy > Screen Security. The app will ask you to confirm before disabling it, so you don’t accidentally flip the switch.
In a blog post, Signal made it clear that they don’t love having to jump through hoops like this just to protect user privacy. “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 a ‘one weird trick’ just to maintain the privacy and integrity of their services.”
Bottom line? Signal isn’t waiting around for the OS to catch up — it’s taking matters into its own hands.
