In an open letter last week, Apple modified its privacy and security policies, promising that in addition to two-factor authentication for iCloud access, iOS 8 would make it impossible for outside elements to extract device data.
Google has now confirmed to the Washington Post that similar data encryption will be enabled in Android L by default. Android actually already supports on-device data encryption, but needs to be switched on first, limiting its effectiveness without awareness of the feature or a hindsight machine.
As Google and Apple will not have access to the encryption keys required for access, government or police agencies will not be able to subpoena them for access to your data. However, there are other methods, and in Apple’s case, anyone without iOS 8 or higher will be without protection; Apple will comply to government requests for information on devices running iOS 7 or lower with a search warrant. The caveat might be just the thing to accelerate lagging iOS 8 adoption.
[source]Washington Post[/source][via]GigaOM[/via]
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