Google to provide automatic encryption for Android phone users
PUBLISHED : Friday, 19 September, 2014, 10:32pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 20 September, 2014, 3:11am
Agence France-Presse in San Francisco
Google said it would improve encryption of its mobile operating system. Photo: Reuters
Google said it would beef up encryption of its mobile operating system, so that it would not hold "keys" to devices that could be shared with law enforcement - even if it were served with a warrant.
The announcement on Thursday comes after Apple unveiled a similar plan for its iPhones and iPads, and amid heightened concerns about privacy of personal technology.
A Google spokesman said encryption was already offered for the Android system on smartphones and tablets, but that this would be turned on automatically in the upcoming version.
"For over three years Android has offered encryption, and keys are not stored off of the device, so they cannot be shared with law enforcement."
Google has not said when the update will be released.
Apple announced on Wednesday that its new encryption would be built into the iOS 8 operating system on the iPhone 6.
"Your personal data such as photos, messages (including attachments), email, contacts, call history, iTunes content, notes, and reminders, is placed under the protection of your pass code," says the new policy.
"Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your pass code and therefore cannot access this data. So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8."
The updates come in the wake of revelations of government surveillance programmes that sweep up data from computers, and concerns about the role technology firms played in facilitating the programmes.
