The revelations regarding spying by the NSA by Edward Snowden, have moved a large number of people to begin caring about their information security. Google had already begun to introduce the idea of encryption of data on phones back in 2011, but people who don’t know Android rarely use it, but all that is about to change.
In a report by the Washington Post, Google has advised that from the next release of Android – known currently as Android L – the encryption feature will be enabled by default. With encryption enabled out of the box, encryption keys are stored locally on the device, meaning law enforcement will no longer be able to have Google hand over data.
It’s an interesting move, which has been already brought to the fore by Apple recently enabling device encryption on the iPhone, with Android mirroring the security measure it’s a win for almost 90% of the mobile using population.
If you want to enable data encryption on your phone now, you can be ahead of the curve by going into Settings> Security and selecting Encrypt Phone. You will of course need to set a pin code prior to doing this which you’ll need to enter to access your phone, but can you put a price on your data security?
I want my pattern lock…