Google won’t encrypt phones running Android Lollipop by default: report

Last year, Google hit headlines with its announcement that the devices running its next version of Android aka 5.0 Lollipop will require full-disk encryption on all upcoming phones by default. But looks like the company has quietly backed away from its promise.
Now, new phones running Android Lollipop are out but they don’t seem to be encrypted by default. “At some point between the original announcement in September of 2014 and the publication of the Android 5.0 hardware requirements in January of 2015, Google apparently decided to relax the requirement, pushing it off to some future version of Android,” points out an ArsTechnica report.
Both new and old devices that support and run Lollipop have decided to let go off encryption including the most recently launched Moto E.
According to a report by 9To5Google, the Galaxy S6 demo units showcased at MWC are reportedly not encrypted. However, we will have to wait and see if this also applies when they finally start shipping in April.
Google’s Android 5.0 compatibility definition for full-disk encryption states, “For devices supporting full-disk encryption, the full-disk encryption should be enabled all the time after the user has completed the out-of-box experience. While this requirement is stated as should for this version of the Android platform, it is very strongly recommended as we expect this to change to must in the future versions of Android.”
This clearly shows Google now doesn’t require full-disk encryption and plans to update this policy in ‘future versions of Android.’ Why Google went for this change is still unclear. To enable full-disk encryption on the Lollipop device, users will have to access Settings and click on ‘Encrypt phone’ under the Security menu.