encryption

[oceanlight]

has anyone tried the "encrypt phone" option under "security"? does it hinder performance at all? affect battery life?

thanks.

 

[viperman2008]

has anyone tried the "encrypt phone" option under "security"? does it hinder performance at all? affect battery life?

thanks.

I tried it and I don't seem to have any issues. Performance seems to be fine and battery life is as good/bad as everyone else.

Only thing you really notice is to reboot the phone takes two times. Once to decrypt and then it boots again to normal.

 

[shaffilupagus]

Same here -- double boot but generally no adverse impact on performance. Battery is no worse mad than others' it seems

 

[andiroo]

No issues with encryption here at all. Everyone should turn it on...you never know who will get their hands on your phone someday.

 

[shaffilupagus]

Just wondering - would encryption be possible/impossible on a rooted phone? Between this post and my last on the thread, I tried rooting, but decrypted beforehand (just in case).

 

[zetroc]

First, I thought you can't decrypt (undo encryption) unless you do a factory reset.

Second, I get that encryption gives your files security, but can someone give me an example of why I'd want to encrypt my phone vs just letting it be?

 

[The_Chief]

Between face unlock (first line of defense) and pattern unlock (second line of defense) AND remote lock with Lookout (third line of defense), I guess I don't understand the need to encrypt the entire phone. What is it? An extra password to remember? Secure data transmissions?

I would appreciate enlightenment

 

[Crashumbc]

Between face unlock (first line of defense) and pattern unlock (second line of defense) AND remote lock with Lookout (third line of defense), I guess I don't understand the need to encrypt the entire phone. What is it? An extra password to remember? Secure data transmissions?

I would appreciate enlightenment

Those are all nice, but they don't actually secure your DATA. All they do is secure phone against unauthorized access.


If someone plugs your phone into a PC with adb they can still access all your files. With encryption all they see is a blob.

 

[nexusmad]

I tried it and I don't seem to have any issues. Performance seems to be fine and battery life is as good/bad as everyone else.

Only thing you really notice is to reboot the phone takes two times. Once to decrypt and then it boots again to normal.

Does the encryption feature require you to enter a pin or password every time you unlock the phone or just at bootup? I would like to enable it and don't mind entering a code when the phone is powered on but I want to continue to use the pattern unlock feature when unlocking. The pattern unlock is one of the main reasons I use Android, it is so convenient over typing a code.

Thanks.

 

[Deleted User]

Between face unlock (first line of defense) and pattern unlock (second line of defense) AND remote lock with Lookout (third line of defense), I guess I don't understand the need to encrypt the entire phone. What is it? An extra password to remember? Secure data transmissions?

I would appreciate enlightenment

Actually, it doesn't affect data transmission at all.

The whole idea is based on the concept that physical access = administrative access. Once someone has physical access to something - a computer, a phone, whatever - it is extremely difficult to prevent them from obtaining administrative/root access. If we take the phone as an example, remote lock and pattern lock are great, but they have access to the bootloader, which has access to all parts of the file system, so all of your protections are moot. They can all be defeated. They don't need to know your passwords or patterns to unlock things.

Encryption solves that problem, because it doesn't matter if they gain administrative access. They actually need your passphrase in order to unencrypt it - there is no good way to circumvent the encryption.

It's a personal decision. If you lost your phone, how much data is on there? The chances are someone isn't stealing it to take your data, but what if they do? It's an evaluation of risk - the risk is small that A) you'll lose your phone, B) the person who takes it is interested in your data, and C) they are savvy enough to obtain it. However, the risk is there, so you just need to decide for yourself if that's worth it.

 

[wavking]

Those are all nice, but they don't actually secure your DATA. All they do is secure phone against unauthorized access.


If someone plugs your phone into a PC with adb they can still access all your files. With encryption all they see is a blob.

I thought that was the case, but I'm still unsure about somethings.
When I plug into my computer, I can see all files and am never asked for a password. I assume it's because they are already linked or authorized in some way I don't remember answering.

BUT when I did a test on my wife's laptop I can still access all the phone's files on her computer. Why? Does it have anything to do with us being on the same home network?

 

[wavking]

Does the encryption feature require you to enter a pin or password every time you unlock the phone or just at bootup? I would like to enable it and don't mind entering a code when the phone is powered on but I want to continue to use the pattern unlock feature when unlocking. The pattern unlock is one of the main reasons I use Android, it is so convenient over typing a code.

Thanks.

Here's what I have learned by encrypting my phone--

You lose the ability to use any other unlock feature that a passcode which must contain numbers and letters.

You therefore also lose the ability to just unlock with one push and no swipe. you must swipe to unlock.

But you do not have to enter passcode every time. You can set the timeout as much as 1 hour of inactivity. But that means you still have to enter it every morning when you wake up. (But you don't have to enter it to kill an alarm or snooze).

If you want to lock the phone instantly, there's a widget for that.

This is how I have my phone set up so most of the time during the day I don't have to unlock it. But if I'm ever pulled over by the cops, first thing I'll do is lock it down, because they CAN take your phone without a warrant, and they CAN try to access it... but if it's locked and encrypted...

 

[aurora40]

Between face unlock (first line of defense) and pattern unlock (second line of defense) AND remote lock with Lookout (third line of defense), I guess I don't understand the need to encrypt the entire phone. What is it? An extra password to remember? Secure data transmissions?

I would appreciate enlightenment

No different than encrypting a file system on your computer. You can have logins, passwords, file ownership permissions, etc. But someone can take that drive out, stick it in another computer, and read all the data if it isn't encrypted.

Permission and encryption are two different things.

As a tin-foil-hat aside, more and more states allow police to "read" your phone for any routine stop. If you power your encrypted android phone off, it is unreadable until decrypted, which can't be done without the password or some huge NSA-type brains. An unencrypted but PIN/face-unlock/whatever'd phone can be read without having permission.

To the OP, the only real impact is on startup. The phone takes about twice as long to start as an unencrypted phone. You may notice on I/O benchmarks that they drop a bit as well. But I've never noticed any difference in use (other than the startup time).

 

[aurora40]

Here's what I have learned by encrypting my phone--

You lose the ability to use any other unlock feature that a passcode which must contain numbers and letters.

Not true, I have face-unlock enabled on my encrypted phone. And while a passcode can have letters/numbers, it doesn't have to have them.

 

[bhavbhuti]

If you want to lock the phone instantly, there's a widget for that.

Hey wavking, can you please let me know about the widget you mentioned. Also does it mean you can have your phone setup to stay unlocked unless you use the widget? Please advise

Thanks and regards
Bhavbhuti