You might have heard that Amazon disabled the option for software encryption in the latest version of its Android-based Fire OS for the Kindle Fire series of tablets. (This isn't new - Fire OS 5 has been rolling out to various tablets since last year.) And if you read news that isn't Android Police, you probably also know that it's not the biggest story involving encryption right now. After consumer backlash following the Apple-FBI encryption case, Engadget reports that Amazon says it will return software encryption in the next major update.

Customers might have had something to say about the loss of encryption capabilities even without the highly public spat between Apple and the FBI over the San Bernardino iPhone case. But since that particular story has been dominating technology and policy news over the last few weeks, the response was more or less inevitable. (It's worth noting that Amazon joined with several other technology companies, including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft, in an amicus brief supporting Apple's position against the FBI.) Encryption on an Amazon-branded tablet probably isn't as crucial as it is for a smartphone in terms of personal security, but it's still nice to have, especially if you store or access sensitive information from Amazon hardware.

Amazon removed the encryption because its analytical data said no one was using it. The specific details on when the next update will come to Fire OS were not forthcoming, though Amazon says it will be available "this spring."

Source: Engadget