Google is exploring ways to encrypt files stored in Google Drive to prevent the the U.S. government and
other authorities from demanding access to user data, according to a CNET report.
Encryption has been a popular word since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents revealing an NSA program called PRISM that collects user data from major Internet companies, including Google.
Many companies use SSL and HTTPS to securely transmit data from a users computer to the destination servers.This protects the data from anyone listening in on the transmission, a procedure called a man-in-the-middle attack.Currently, when you upload or download something from Google Drive the transmission is in encrypted form,but Google is storing that data in an unencrypted manner.
According to CNET's report, Google is experimenting with
ways to encrypt the files while they are stored, as well.
"Mechanisms like this could give people more confidence and allow them to start backing up potentially their whole device," Seth Schoen, senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, told CNET.
If Google encrypts this data and doesn’t provide the NSA with the key, then the information the NSA collects would be useless.
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