Amazon Changes Stance on Encryption for Fire Tablets

http://www.securityweek.com/amazon-changes-stance-encryption-fire-tablets

Amazon originally said the move to weaken data security on its Fire devices was because customers weren’t using certain features.

“In the fall when we released Fire OS 5, we removed some enterprise features that we found customers weren’t using,” an Amazon spokesperson told SecurityWeek on March 4.

Amazon has changed its stance on full disk encryption, and says that it will bring back the data protection measure in the near future, after significant backlash and bad press.

Amazon’s flip-flop on encryption for its Fire devices comes amid avid discussions regarding the security and privacy of smartphones and similar devices after Apple refused to help the FBI unlock the iPhone belonging to the San Bernardino Islamic terrorist.

Amazon FireOS is an Android-based mobile operating system produced by Amazon for its Fire Phone and Kindle Fire range of EReaders, and other content delivery devices like Fire TV; the tablet-version of the Kindle Fire is the Amazon Fire HDX. It is forked from Android. Fire OS primarily centers on content consumption, with a customized user interface and heavy ties to content available from Amazon’s own storefronts and services. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_OS