The Windows 10 search engine has been one of the elements that has evolved the most since the launch of the operating system. This search engine, initially integrated into Cortana , allows us to instantly find what we want. It does not matter if it is a local file that we have saved on the PC, a document, a photo or anything that we want to consult on the web. Simply by typing it in this search bar we can find it in an instant. However, we must be careful how we do it, since one of the last included functions can cause us privacy problems.
One of the last functions that came to the Windows 10 search engine is the possibility of allowing us to search for anything on our PC , or on the web, through a screenshot. For example, we can take a screenshot of an object that we find on any website, an icon or a logo to find more information about it using Bing systems directly.
This feature can be very useful and help us save time when performing certain searches. But it can also pose a danger to our privacy, since Microsoft analyzes, saves and uses all the photos that we send through this platform.
Lack of privacy, again, marks Windows 10
As expected, Microsoft was not going to give us this new feature for free. And it is that, just as Google did in its day with Google Photos, or with Google Quick Draw to draw and guess objects, Microsoft’s goal is to take advantage of our photos to train its AI.
When we are going to use this function, which we can find within the search panel of the browser , we notice that a warning appears next to the capture button. This notice used to appear when going to make the capture and send it, but now we can find it next to the button.
The notice tells us that everything we send through this feature will be saved and can be used to continue training Bing. The photos will not be published without permission on the network, but we must bear in mind that Microsoft will use them for its own benefit. And as part of the Bing engine training it may happen that some managers can see them to check if the training is going well or not.
Searching with a screenshot
This feature should be available to all Windows 10 users starting with version 1809, as it is a feature that has been introduced in the background through a change to the backend. Therefore, it is not version dependent or feature dependent.
When we open the search box we can find a button, in the lower right, that will allow us to carry out this search.
Clicking on it will open the Windows 10 snipping tool. We can select the part of the screen that we want to save and send to Microsoft. After selecting the box that we want, this content will be sent and processed directly on the company’s servers. In a few seconds, we can get back the results we were waiting for.