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Amazon Dropped Device Encryption From Fire OS Before Apple-FBI Case

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Amazon has removed the ability to encrypt data on its consumer devices in the latest update to its Fire OS operating system.

The change effectively kills local encryption on the company's range of Fire tablets, Kindle e-readers and streaming media devices, leaving the data on these devices vulnerable to attacks and potentially accessible to thieves if the devices are stolen.

Kindle Fire, Fire Phone, Amazon Fire HD, and Amazon Fire TV Sticks are all affected after users accept the Fire OS 5 update. The Verge reports that Amazon forum members first flagged the encryption removal on February 21, before the change was picked up by Twitter user David Scovetta yesterday.

CcnE0K7UsAA_bu2.jpg-large.jpeg

While Apple fights the good fight, @Amazon removes encryption as option from FireOS 5 | @csoghoian @normative @eff pic.twitter.com/nggBdtFG7j - David Scovetta (@davidscovetta) March 3, 2016
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It's unclear why Amazon would choose to reduce the security of its devices, but the change is not a new development and was actually a decision made months ago, according to the company.

"In the fall when we released Fire OS 5, we removed some enterprise features that we found customers weren't using," an Amazon spokesperson stated to various press outlets. "All Fire tablets' communication with Amazon's cloud meet our high standards for privacy and security, including appropriate use of encryption."

The news comes amid Apple's high-profile dispute with the FBI over its refusal to comply with a court order compelling the company to create software that would unlock the phone of terror suspect Syed Rizwan Farook.

Dozens of technology companies, industry trade groups, and encryption experts have been submitting documents to support Apple, all catalogued on Apple's website. Yesterday, Amazon also put its name to an amicus brief in support of the company's stance.

Update: Amazon has pledged to restore disk encryption security protection to its mobile operating system after the firm reversed its stance over the weekend. "We will return the option for full disk encryption with a Fire OS update coming this spring," an Amazon spokesman told the BBC.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Amazon Dropped Device Encryption From Fire OS Before Apple-FBI Case
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2016/03/04/amazon-drops-device-encryption-from-fire-os/
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MH01

MH01

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But I run KODI on my fire stick and this is an outrage !!!!
 
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bsbeamer

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Sep 19, 2012
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Nimrad said:
Now Trump will force muslims, mexicans, drug dealers and terrorists to use Amazon products. Great!
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Terrible timing. Was the Amazon support actually from the AWS division, rather than the Amazon commercial division?

Unfortunately, this may be a "good" business move for Amazon in an attempt to secure government-sector market-share in the future. Depending on the FBI case outcome, there may be local governments "up in arms" about encryption and they will want to put their money where there mouth is... maybe become the next Blackberry-style alternative?
 
2

2010mini

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Jun 19, 2013
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bsbeamer said:
Terrible timing. Was the Amazon support actually from the AWS division, rather than the Amazon commercial division?

Unfortunately, this may be a "good" business move for Amazon in an attempt to secure government-sector market-share in the future. Depending on the FBI case outcome, there may be local governments "up in arms" about encryption and they will want to put their money where there mouth is... maybe become the next Blackberry-style alternative?
Click to expand...

Blackberry? RIM had some of the best data encryption around.
 
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thisisnotmyname

thisisnotmyname

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The picture I have in my mind of the average fire tablet user is someone looking for dirt cheap and really not caring about anything else. I don't think many of their users are going to care. That may not apply for fire stick users though. Seems a large number are buying them to hack, although at that point isn't the capability of fireos out the window anyway?
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

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Nov 26, 2007
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bsbeamer said:
Terrible timing. Was the Amazon support actually from the AWS division, rather than the Amazon commercial division?

Unfortunately, this may be a "good" business move for Amazon in an attempt to secure government-sector market-share in the future. Depending on the FBI case outcome, there may be local governments "up in arms" about encryption and they will want to put their money where there mouth is... maybe become the next Blackberry-style alternative?
Click to expand...

IDK, seems to me it would be the opposite. The government hates keeping any data unencrypted. It's what makes their attempts to have all of our devices unencrypted seem especially stupid.
 
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bsbeamer

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2010mini said:
Blackberry? RIM had some of the best data encryption around.
Click to expand...

Yes, and the government did not have a problem with it at the time and still do not to this day. The only people who still regularly use Blackberry these days seem to be government-related in some capacity.


ArtOfWarfare said:
IDK, seems to me it would be the opposite. The government hates keeping any data unencrypted. It's what makes their attempts to have all of our devices unencrypted seem especially stupid.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is very true for federal... but maybe certain sectors of local governments who are up in arms against Apple (and encryption) want to start seeing what a world without encryption really looks like?
 
Studioman

Studioman

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Jun 17, 2015
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bsbeamer said:
Terrible timing. Was the Amazon support actually from the AWS division, rather than the Amazon commercial division?

Unfortunately, this may be a "good" business move for Amazon in an attempt to secure government-sector market-share in the future. Depending on the FBI case outcome, there may be local governments "up in arms" about encryption and they will want to put their money where there mouth is... maybe become the next Blackberry-style alternative?
Click to expand...

That may be unlikely since they care about their devices being secure, just not yours.
 
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oneMadRssn

oneMadRssn

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Sep 8, 2011
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What's the big deal? Those who want encryption on their tablets or phones or whatever devices shouldn't buy Amazon Fire products. It's simple. It's not like Amazon advertised or touted the encryption feature before, like Apple and Google have.
 
A

avanpelt

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Jun 2, 2010
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Slow clap for Amazon.

Really bad move considering Fire tablets are used quite often by kids. Wait until the story breaks that people have been spying on kids via the cameras in the Fire. How? Oh, because Amazon decided to drop encryption for Fire OS.

If that ever happens (and I suspect it's only a matter of time), Amazon's tablet business will suffer a huge blow...perhaps a death blow.
 
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