Amazon will restore optional full disk encryption to Fire OS 5 in a software update “coming this spring,” according to a statement released by the company on Friday evening.
The company originally removed disk encryption support in FireOS 5, which was introduced on Fire tablets last fall. It only made headlines yesterday after that update started to roll out for older devices—those tablets shipped with encryption support which was removed by the update, and users complained. The topic of device encryption is also on everyone’s mind thanks to Apple’s high-profile fight with the FBI over a locked iPhone 5C.
Amazon originally said that it removed encryption support from the Android-based Fire OS because it was an “enterprise feature” that “consumers weren’t using.” The complaints and news reports were apparently enough to get the company to reverse course.
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