TEMPO.CO, Mountain View - The upcoming Android version, Android L, will encrypt phone data by default, said Google Thursday. The setting is applied to prevent data thieves and law enforcers to access the personal information on the Android-based device.
Instead of optional settings for data encryptions widely applied on Android-based devices produced since 2011, Android L will encrypt users' data automatically.
The information announced a day after Apple revealed that the data stored on devices running iOS8, the latest version of its mobile operating system, are protected by users' personal passcode that Apple cannot bypass even if presented with a court order.
"For over three years Android has offered encryption, and keys are not stored off of the device, so they cannot be shared with law enforcement," Google said in a statement. "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."
Cook said in a television broadcast that Apple has taken a "very different view" about the collection of customer information than other companies and that customers "are not our products."
Apple has worked up its public emphasis on privacy and security since the release of several private, nude images of celebrities hacked from Apple iCloud accounts.
Despite claiming that its security architecture was not responsible for the leak, Cook said the company would bolster its security alert system on the online storage service and has offered tips for creating stronger passwords.
ERWIN Z. | CNET
