Android L to come with Automatic Encryption to prevent Government from sneaking into your device

After the leak of intimate photos of the Hollywood celebrities due to the security lapse in the Apple’s iCloud, every software company and device manufacturers are rushing over to secure their devices. Quoted as the biggest scandal in the Hollywood history involving the leak of hundreds of intimate pictures of several celebrities, degraded the reputation of the Apple Inc. As a quick move, Apple announced an encryption feature for its latest iPhone 6 to make iPhones more secure than ever. In a similar move, Google also announced an enhanced security feature yesterday for its upcoming Android L release.

Google is going to provide automatic encryption feature in its most-awaited Android L release. However, this is not the first time that Android devices will get the encryption feature, Android has had encryption since 2011. But the feature has to be enabled and very few users bother about having their devices encrypted making their devices vulnerable to data theft. The new update makes encryption as default, making users more secure than before on Android devices.

With this encryption feature, no one else can see the contents of your device including the pictures, videos and contacts unless they have a 4-digit pin which acts as the security barrier. Google says that the pass codes are not saved online in any form making the them localized to the device itself. This prevents your device information from getting mis-used as even Google or the device manufacturer can’t unencrypt your device which makes your device as secure as Fort Knox.

Google also says that this new feature will block the Government officials from sneaking around your data even if they have an official warrant. As the encryption pass codes are stored offline, government can’t force the device manufacturers or Google to hack into personal devices which directly impacts the secret investigations. Edward Snowden, the former NSA agent also shared some confidential information stating that the governments are sneaking around the personal data including the Google and Facebook databases. With the latest Android L encryption feature, the personal information will not be easy to steal.

However, it is still unknown how Google is going to implement it. One obvious guess is that the Android OS will ask to setup a 4-digit pin on first boot which will encrypt the device from the start. Also users won’t have any permission to switch the encryption off, as the encryption is triggered at the first boot. This features builds a strong security layer around your device, however it makes the Government investigations very hard in case of genuine investigation.

Nonetheless this feature should be implemented sooner or later to protect the data privacy. I hope it will be sooner than later. What do you say, guys?

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via Washington Post