Amazon to restore encryption to Fire tablets after complaints

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By Larry Banks

Amazon plans to restore encryption in its Fire tablets after a raft of customer complaints and criticisms from privacy advocates slated the firm for removing the security option when its latest operating system was released.

“We will return the option for full-disk encryption with a Fire OS update coming this spring”, company spokeswoman Robin Handaly told Reuters over the weekend.

The decision to drop encryption from the Fire operating system was revealed late last week. The company said it removed the feature in a version of Fire OS that began shipping in the fall as few customers usedit.

On-device encryption essentially scrambles data so that the device can only be used if the correct password is entered. Well known and respected cryptologist Bruce Schneier said Amazon’s removal of the feature was stupid, and was one of the most vocal of those urging the retail giant to restore it.

Apple’s legal battle over US government demands to help unlock an encrypted iPhone used by the San Bernadino shooter Rizwan Farook has created a media storm over the issue of encryption.

Amazon.com this week signed on to a court brief urging a federal judge to side with Apple.

SOURCE: Reuters.

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