Google Fires Back at Tim Cook, Says Android L Will Protect Users With Encryption

Both Apple, Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG) are stepping up their game when it comes to mobile encryption.

I. Don't Spy on Me

On the eve of the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6+, Apple CEO Timothy Cook countered accusations that Apple assisted in government spying, stating that Apple firmly believed in protecting client privacy and was incorporating state-of-the-art encryption into iOS 8 to protect all of your data.

Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data. So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.

But much like Apple's privacy makeover with iOS 8, Google is planning a privacy ramp-up of its own with the upcoming Android L (presumably Android 5.0).

II. Android L to Feature Strong Encryption as Well

In a statement to The Washington Post, company spokeswoman Niki Christoff responded to Tim Cook's criticism, saying it was invalid as Google too was adding encryption in its next major release (Android L).

The report says that this security step-up is not a reactionary move towards Apple. Rather it's been in the works for many months.

III. Android vs. iOS: The Encryption Story

Digging further into Apple and Google's relative security, both firms are relatively comparable from a features standpoint, using the latest and greatest ARM Holdings plc (LON:ARM) 64-bit processing technologies to accelerate strong encryption of local data.

See original here:
Google Fires Back at Tim Cook, Says Android L Will Protect Users With Encryption