Finally, Google and other big tech companies want to do without passwords completely, but until that day comes, a Google Password Manager feature called device encryption may be your best bet to protect your precious codes. Although it came out quietly earlier this spring, as you can now easily access Google Password Manager on the Android home screen, now is a good time to review it. The feature is available for Android, iOS and Chrome and is designed to help users protect their information from prying eyes, even from Google.
What is device encryption?
In short: Encryption on your device adds an extra layer of protection and privacy to Google Password Manager, as it gives you exclusive possession of the encryption key that encrypts and decrypts the text of your PWs.
When it comes to encryption, “keys” are the tool used to lock and unlock information. Encryption hides data by shuffling plain text, or “plain text,” in what is called “ciphertext,” which is presented as a confusing, unreadable joke. However, this joke can be re-converted to readable text using a “key”, which is a randomly generated string of information used to unlock encryption.
Google Password Manager has traditionally retained a user’s key, stored it in the user’s Google Account, and used it to protect their passwords. However, with encryption on the device, the user’s key is stored on their actual device instead of Google’s digital systems. The feature allows users to unlock their passwords using their Google password or using an eligible screen lock feature of their choice (PIN or fingerprint or other biometric identifier). As Google has said, this means that “no one but you will be able to access your passwords.” This includes Google!
Why you should set up account recovery
Sure, you can see the privacy benefits of this new feature, but there are also some potential drawbacks. For example, if you lose or forget your Google password or other security mechanism linked to the feature, you’ll find yourself in a bad world. Because? Because then you will not be able to access any of your other passwords.
Because there is a risk of this happening, Google recommends that you set up some account recovery methods before enabling encryption on your device. You can learn more about these by reading the Google support page about the issue here. It’s also important to keep in mind: Once you’ve added encryption to your device, it looks like it can’t be deleted, so make sure you want to turn it on before you turn it on.
How to set up encryption on your Google Password Manager device
So how do you get everything set up? The process should be fairly straightforward. For Android, just do the following:
- Open the Password Manager.
- Click Settings
- Tap Set up encryption on your device.
That should be it. For iOS, you will follow a similar procedure, but from the Google Passwords website. From here, just click Settings and then “Configure”. To learn more about this new feature, you can check out Google’s full writing here.
Other options
Another thing to keep in mind is that you don’t necessarily have to trust Google! For the truly paranoid, this may not be a bad thing to keep in mind. You can always subscribe to another password manager like Keeper or Bitwarden, and if that doesn’t suit your needs, you can always go analog and jot down your passwords on a piece of paper. After all, it would be quite difficult to hack your notebook.