Major security feature could be coming to Google Drive
Security is the key buzzword in mobile and we can understand why. Prying eyes are always looking for data that it can use to separate you from your money. Encryption helps to prevent this and strings of code found by XDA in the Google Drive for Android app (version 2.20.441.06.40) drops some hints about Google's plan to offer encryption for the app. Among the strings of code found include a pair that state: "You'll be able to open encrypted files soon," and "Download and decrypt." That first string of code sure makes it seem that users will be able to open an encrypted document on the Drive app.
Mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi posted a tweet today showing the Settings menu for an upcoming version of Google Drive. One menu option is called "Enable encryption" that with a simple swipe of the toggle "encrypt documents on this device." Another option called streaming decryption allows users to "decrypt documents into a stream incrementally." Once enabled, encrypted documents that are downloaded to the device will feature a small lock icon next to the separate icon that indicates a document is available to be viewed offline.
Native encryption appears to be coming to the Google Drive app
Drive currently does not have a native encryption feature. If what we are seeing here is legit, Drive's native encryption will bring a layer of protection and security to cloud storage. There are other ways besides using encryption to keep this information away from prying eyes. Two factor authorization and the use of a strong password (not the user's birthday) will help.
XDA did have one bad thought. We see that Google is starting to move some photo editing filters and a VPN to Google One behind a paywall. We might have to consider that encryption is going be available to Drive users, but possibly at a price.
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