Following Apple CEO Tim Cook’s declaration on Wednesday that Apple is unable to decrypt devices using iOS 8, Google let it be known that the next version of Android will shield data on devices more effectively.
Android has supported user-controlled device encryption since the debut of version 2.3.4 (Gingerbread), with improvements over the years. But now Google plans to turn device encryption on by default. A company spokesperson told the Washington Post, “As part of our next Android release, encryption will be enabled by default out of the box, so you won’t even have to think about turning it on.”
The next Android release is called “Android-L.” No specific release date has been announced, but Google intends to deliver the update before the end of 2014, possibly as soon as October.
By turning device encryption on by default, Apple and Google are declaring their disinterest in surveillance-as-a-service. Government agencies often ask the companies to help them access data on smartphones seized in the course of investigations, when investigators cannot access that data on their own. When authorities make such demands in accordance with valid legal process, companies must provide whatever data they can access. Default device encryption means Apple and Google will be unable to assist authorities with data on devices, whether they want to or not.