Storing files in Google Drive might be good for saving space on your computer, but it's never been the most secure option, since Drive doesn't support encrypting individual files. It looks like that might be changing in the future, though, as a teardown of the latest app update reveals work towards adding support for encryption.
Based on strings found within version 2.20.441.06.40 of the Google Drive app, Google is poised to introduce a feature that will let users encrypt Drive files saved on-device, as well as download and open encrypted files in Drive.
Let's give some more details about it 👀#Google will allow to encrypt documents saved on your device (namely documents marked to be available offline) 🔒
Changing this settings will erase all copies already downloaded. https://t.co/tizh8OSser pic.twitter.com/58GJjX7y2q— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) November 10, 2020
Shortly after XDA published its teardown, developer Alessandro Paluzzi tweeted out screenshots of the feature in action. These images appear to confirm that encryption will appear as a toggle that lives in the settings of the Drive app. Once enabled, encrypted documents that are downloaded to the device will appear with a small lock icon next to the icon that indicates offline availability. It looks like toggling encryption will erase all documents currently downloaded through Drive, though, which is a little inconvenient, but hey — that's the price you pay for enhanced security.
While these encryption features aren't quite ready to roll out yet, you can download the latest version of Google Drive from APK Mirror or the Play Store to make sure you're first in line when Google pulls the lever.
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