When Android 5.0 Lollipop launched , Googleproudly claim that full - disk encryption was a standard lineament , enabled by default . But now phones with the OS are starting to appear in the wild , that appear not to be the case .
Googlespoke about the feature at launching . AsArs Technica pointsout , ittold The Washington Postthat “ encryption will be enabled by default out of the box , so you wo n’t even have to conceive about turn it on . ” In a web log post , it explainedthat a user datum partition would be create at first kick , with encryption “ on by default from the moment you power on a fresh gadget running Lollipop . ”
Android 5.0 Lollipop : More Than Just Material Design
Certainly , Google ’s Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 both feature full - phonograph recording encoding by default option . When Lollipop hit older link machine as an update , it did n’t retrospectively encrypt the devices — but that ’s perhaps understandable as it could have caused some problems . But , Ars Technica expose , other new handsets do n’t come out to be cipher by nonremittal either . The 2d - generation Moto E is n’t . Samples of the new Samsung Galaxy S6 at Mobile World Congress are n’t . So what gives ?
Turns out , the Android guideline that Google publish for phone manufacturers — the Android Compatibility Definition text file — don’t iterate the promise made at launch . Here ’s the relevant extract , unearthed by Ars Technica :
9.9 Full - Disk Encryption
If the twist implementation has a lock screen , the gimmick MUST brook full - phonograph recording encryption of the diligence private data ( /data patition ) as well as the Mount Rushmore State carte du jour sectionalisation if it is a permanent , non - removable part of the gimmick . For devices endorse full - record encryption , the full - disk encoding SHOULD be enabled all the prison term after the user has completed the out - of - box experience . While this requirement is tell as SHOULD for this adaptation of the Android platform , it is very strongly RECOMMENDED as we expect this to alter to MUST in the next interlingual rendition of Android .
So phones have to support encoding , but it ’s at the manufacturers discretion as to whether or not it ’s really enable . Which is the exact same site that ’s been in billet since KitKat .
Likely , the encryption slows down machine so much that manufacturers are loth to have it running from the get go . After all , firing up your new French telephone to discover it a little sulky would be disappointing to say the least . perceivable on the part of the producer , then — but less so on the part of Google .
If that last assumption is the type , it ’s potential Google was persuaded to relax its at - launching demand for the sake of performance . Which is hunky-dory — but it should n’t , perhaps , have made such a song and dance about encoding when it launch Lollipop or at least made a similar fuss about the easiness .
For now , then , you ’ll have to encrypt your own Android equipment — and perhaps Google ought make it open that ’s the case . [ Ars Technica ]
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