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Ever felt let down by someone who you made a promise, and then broke it? That’s what millions of Android users must be feeling right now when it comes to Google and Android. Last September, Google announced that mobile devices running the new version of Android (5.0, also known as Lollipop) would have full-disk encryption enabled by default. Here is how Google announced the news to the media in a statement: And each of every one of us who cares about security and privacy said, “This is a good thing. Well done Google.” The news of the “encryption-by-default” was reaffirmed in a blog post from Google’s Android team in October last year: It all sounds good, right? Wrong. Because we were a little hasty in breaking open the champagne last year, as Ars Technica has discovered that Google has quietly gone back on its promise and not all new Lollipop devices are going to have encryption by default. It turns out that while Google’s own Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 devices do indeed have encryption enabled by default, other older devices upgraded to Lollipop are not so lucky. Furthermore, brand new third-party Android devices (such as the second-generation Moto E and Galaxy S6 demonstrated at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona) are also not encrypted by default. The discrepancy between what Google said last year and what is now being seen on third-party Android Lollipop devices is explained by the OEM guidelines that manufacturers must follow to have their Lollipop devices approved by Google: In other words, the manufacturer still has a choice whether they currently enable full-disk encryption or not. And performance issues may mean that some third-party Lollipop devices will not yet have encryption by default. Ultimately there was a battle between security and performance. The full-disk encryption may have had too much of a hit on some devices, and so Google – fearing resistance from both customers and manufacturers – made the requirement optional. For now at least. So, if you want your Android to be fully encrypted you will still have to enable the option for yourself. Let’s hope not too many people have been lulled into a false sense of security by Google’s statements of last year. -> Source: Google does a U-turn over Android Lollipop full disk encryption | HOTforSecurity