“On Monday, experts speaking to The Wall Street Journal about the ongoing smartphone encryption debate estimated that roughly ’10 percent of the world’s 1.4 billion Android phones were encrypted,’ compared to 95 percent of all iPhones,” Andrew Cunningham reports for Ars Technica.
“The vast majority of iDevices are running iOS 8 or 9 and thus all data on them is encrypted in a way that makes it impossible for Apple or others to directly access data on them without their passcodes,” Cunningham reports. “Assuming that people don’t begin encrypting their Android phones en masse or that Google doesn’t change its policies, it means that it could easily be another two or three years before even a plurality of Android devices are encrypted.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: “Open.” As in: Wide.
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Tim Cook champions privacy, blasts ‘so-called free services’ – June 3, 2015
Passing on Google Photos for iOS: Read the fine print before you sign up for Google’s new Photos service – June 1, 2015
Why Apple’s Photos beats Google Photos, despite price and shortcomings – May 30, 2015
Is Apple is losing the photo wars? – May 29, 2015
How Google aims to delve deeper into users’ lives – May 29, 2015
Apple CEO Cook: Unlike some other companies, Apple won’t invade your right to privacy – March 2, 2015
Survey: People trust U.S. NSA more than Google – October 29, 2014
Apple CEO Tim Cook ups privacy to new level, takes direct swipe at Google – September 18, 2014
Apple will no longer unlock most iPhones, iPads for government, police – even with search warrants – September 18, 2014
U.S. NSA watching, tracking phone users with Google Maps – January 28, 2014
U.S. NSA secretly infiltrated Yahoo, Google data centers worldwide, Snowden documents say – October 30, 2013
Google has already inserted some U.S. NSA code into Android – July 10, 2013
Court rules NSA doesn’t have to reveal its semi-secret relationship with Google – May 22, 2013
Edward Snowden’s privacy tips: ‘Get rid of Dropbox,” avoid Facebook and Google – October 13, 2014
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “KingMel” for the heads up.]
Android phones, the phone of choice for the FIB.
Who needs encryption when Google will probably give the feds whatever they ask for about a user?
That’s a pretty sobering statistic. Let’s share it to the world. Specially Apple iPhone haters. hehe
To be honest, I’ve got nothing to hide but I like the fact I can’t have the data on my phone accessed by anybody.
If anything, all this entire charade has done is make more criminals aware that the iPhone is the best phone for nefarious purposes.
My $0.02
Just because you aren’t a criminal doesn’t mean you have nothing to hide. You’ve got plenty to hide. Do you want people to find the names of your family, friends, and associates; your email messages, your browser history, your schedule, your bank and financial information, your website account passwords, your health data, your location and location history, records of what phone calls you made, where you used Apple pay, what wireless networks you use…the list goes on.
Forget about something to hide. How about personal information about you that could be exploited?
That’s really the big seling point with this kind of thing.
I think you should rethink your position. Everyone has something to …well, let’s not say ‘hide’ – let’s say keep private.
Your data – even your metadata is being saved, farmed and categorized for the future. The more out there, the better a ‘profile’ they can build to represent ‘you’. Less of your data out there means less of you… (Sound scary? … No? Ok.. Hold on)
Because we can’t predict the future, we don’t know who is going to be reviewing your data, far, far into that blue mist…
Suppose the Russians, or ISIS or heck, the Cubans end up overthrowing every existing government on the planet in say, 33 years from now.
The thing those bad boys want to do in the future is keep order and control. The one variable that they know plays a major part in the ability to maintain control is … Chocolate.
When chocolate is in short supply, people panic and are easily agitated. When chocolate is in full supply, people are happy, satisfied, docile.
The only problem with maintaining a chocolate police state … are the people who don’t like chocolate.
30 years ago, (1986) – it was impossible to distinguish between chocolate lovers and chocolate neutral Americans, just by looking at billions upon billions of seemingly unconnected numbers. But, already in 2016, your Food Lion card, or your Kroger’s card or your CVS card is linked indiscriminately to your debit card, which is linked to your bank account, which is linked to your SSI number, linked to the IRS, etc.
(when I say linked, I mean causally, not actually).
So, in 2016, if you’re the guy who never bought a chocolate bar between 2014 and 2021 – Somebody in 2049 is gonna be able to distill you out of that data-ocean and add you to a list of known dissidents, because you can’t be controlled – you simply don’t like Chocolate.
Now then, do you still think you’ve got nothing to hide?
It’s awesome that Apple is pro-active with data security.
I have never seen an Android device set up for encryption by default beyond a few specialty devices targeted towards security.
I had to set it up on all mine.
You could say encrypted smartphones would be an advantage for Apple, but I doubt anyone else thinks that way. So many people were quick to criticize Apple for not opening that smartphone for the federal government and considered Apple as helping criminals and terrorists. Whatever good Apple tries to do it always backfires on the company.
The 4th Amendment guarantees us the right to be secure in our persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. In these modern technological times, that includes the contents of our smartphones. Strong encryption helps secure that right. The government’s attempts to weaken said encryption violates that right. It’s bad enough the NSA is collecting cellphone metadata on us now.
The government wants weak encryption so they can have access to our information whenever they want it. Just because the FBI cracked that terrorist’s iPhone without Apple’s help doesn’t mean this battle is over. Every time another encrypted smartphone is seized, the government will try to force tech companies to bypass their encryption. We must oppose this now.