Encrypted cell phone, encrypt memory card: What is it?

Having your cell phone encrypted is a way to keep the sensitive data that you have stored there safe or protected. Here we show you exactly what encrypting your phone is and how to do it.

We live in an era where everything is being spied on and where cell phone theft is very common. Encrypting the information stored on your Android is the safest way for that data not to be seen by any entity or thief, even if they were able to copy or download the data stored on your mobile.

What is encryption

Mix the data with a password or key, so that it is unrecognizable. Basically, that’s what it means to encrypt an Android. Even if those data were to fall into the hands of someone else, they would not be understood because they are merged with the key. The only way to see them and make them readable is to know what the encryption key is.

Some may prefer to say that encryption is simply a synonym for concealment, arguing that the above concept is more of a form of encryption called “encrypt.” In any case, the idea of ​​encrypting the cell phone is to protect your information with a password.

What is it for

It is possible that your Android mobile contains personal or professional information. Account numbers, passwords, conversations, etc. You don’t want that data to be extracted and viewed by someone else.

Even if that data has been erased, if it was not encrypted there may still be some chance of recovering it with recovery software.

The disadvantages of encrypting a cell phone

• There may be a negative impact on the performance of the phone, as well as on the life of the battery, especially if it is an old cell phone or with reduced technical characteristics. The website anandtech.com got hard numbers on it on a Motorola Nexus 6 and they are not good.
• The only way to decrypt a cell phone is to restore its factory settings (except on modern devices that are already encrypted and there is no way to decrypt them).

Encryption and screen lock

If you want the encryption to be effective, it is recommended that you configure a lock screen with PIN, pattern or password (in fact it is mandatory to do this in old versions of Android). Whichever of these three things you use will act as an “encryption key.” By entering it after starting your phone you will be decrypting it to be able to use it and access your data.

If you DO NOT set a lock screen, your phone can certainly be encrypted (this is possible from Android 5.1 onwards), but obviously this would reduce the effectiveness of the encryption.

Otherwise, on old devices you can have a lock screen configured and the phone WITHOUT encryption. In this way you would prevent a person from using your cell phone, but you may not prevent the extraction and visualization of the data saved on the mobile (for example after connecting to the PC with the USB cable).

How to encrypt an Android phone

On devices with Android 5 or higher system, the encryption is already activated from the factory. You may not find any option to encrypt or decrypt the phone.

In mobiles with previous Android system, generally, the option is found in System Settings, “Security” option. Before you can start the encryption process, you must connect your Android to the charger and leave it connected until the end.

The encryption process takes about an hour and will restart several times during it. It is important not to interrupt it or else the mobile data will be lost.

How to know if my cell phone is encrypted

In the “Security” menu of the Android settings you may see the encryption status of the phone.

Another way to find out is by command line, using the ADB tool from the PC:

adb shell getprop ro.crypto.state

Encrypt memory card

As with the phone, this is a good way to protect the data on your memory card. This way they can only be seen on the cell phone from which it was encrypted. It is impossible for them to be displayed on another device.

You just have to remember that, if you are going to restore the cell phone settings, you must first decrypt the card or later you will not have access to it.