Android 9 will encrypt backups to protect users

Android 9 Pie brings many new features such as gesture manipulation, Android Dashboard, night mode, adaptive battery usage, Shush do not disturb function and interface adjustment. But this is not all; Google is still developing more new features for Android 9. Today, Google released a security blog post, which revealed that it would bring a new feature to Android 9 devices – backup encryption. “By combining Android’s Backup Service and Google Cloud’s Titan Technology, Android has taken additional steps to securing users’ data while maintaining their privacy.”

Specifically, Google will automatically back up some mobile phone data (including SMS, call history, etc.) for Nexus and Pixel series phones, so that if the phone is lost or damaged, the user will not forget all the data. Now Google has added a lock on these cloud backups; even Google can’t read user data.

According to Google, the backup application data of the device backup can only be decrypted by the client-generated key. The key is generated based on the user’s lock screen password. Google does not know the password. The data is also stored in the Google server. In the security module on the module, the module will permanently block access after the attempt fails.

Currently, only Pixel devices with Android 9 or above can experience these changes, but I don’t know if this feature will be extended to third-party Android brands outside of Google.