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I'm very new to Android and I wonder what I can do in terms of encryption.

As I read it seems that only Android >= 2.3.3 supports encryption but my new device will be running Android 2.3.1. So I think there's no native solution to encrypt offline mail, calendar and contact data.

What solutions are there to protect my offline data?

Is it possible to encrypt the folders belonging to mail, calendar, contact? Decrypting should always happen when the screen is not lcoked.

Any ideas?

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2 Answers 2

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Encryption of saved data (the data on flash storage) is a feature of Android 4.0 and higher. The only non-4.0-device I am aware of that allows full flash storage encryption is the Lenovo Thinkpad Tablet.

Encryption of connection data (data that goes over the wire) was a big security concern in some Android versions. Google has released some updated versions of the affected Apps, but it's unkown if they where dispatched on every device. IIRC most fixes got into 2.3.5, but I can't find the source ATM - Googles disclosure policy is not so good. Here are some good resources about this topic:

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  • Any apps, which bring this functionality? My device runs 2.3.1 so most likely the connection is still not safe in terms of encryption?
    – meinzlein
    Nov 26, 2011 at 10:49
  • @meinzlein I don't know any App. You don't want full system encryption provided by an App, it's also not easy for an App to implement that. It's something that the Firmware/OS should provide. It's very likly that some data on our 2.3.1 is send and received unencrypted, but there is also a chance that your manufacturer has fixed this in his ROM.
    – Flow
    Nov 26, 2011 at 11:18
  • Thanks for your reply. How to check wether my 2.3.1 is patched in terms of encryption of connection data? Well it doesn't need to be a app which encrypts the whole device - it would be nice to have Mail, Calendar, Contacts encrypted, maybe app-wise or folder-wise. Something which let's me encrpyt at least some parts..
    – meinzlein
    Nov 26, 2011 at 11:39
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    @meinzlein This would at least require root. Not sure if there exists a solution. We have to wait if there are other answers on your question. I am also interested.
    – Flow
    Nov 26, 2011 at 11:51
  • Well root is not a problem. Let's wait for further answers..
    – meinzlein
    Nov 26, 2011 at 16:47
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Can't find an App so far. Smart App Protector seems best we can do

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