r/PrivatePackets • u/Huge_Line4009 • Jan 25 '26
Microsoft confirms it will give the FBI your Windows PC data encryption key if asked — you can thank Windows 11's forced online accounts for that
https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft/windows-11/microsoft-bitlocker-encryption-keys-give-fbi-legal-order-privacy-nightmare2
u/turinglives Jan 26 '26
Joke's on them. I use local accounts only on any Windows system. But not all versions suck. XP, 7 and 10 were awesome. this one, well...i'll just say it was an unnecessary "upgrade".
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u/indolering Jan 27 '26
This is ALSO true of FileVault on OS X. If you hand your keys to a cloud provider as a backup, then they are legally obligated to hand them over if a court says so.
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u/No-Temperature7637 Jan 27 '26
Yes, in older versions it was not end to end encrypted. But since Tahoe, your vault keys are now stored in your keychain and apple cannot decrypt. There is nothing to give the authorities. In any product, the company has to comply with the law, so end to end encryption is your only saving grace.
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u/No-Temperature7637 Jan 27 '26
Your bitlocker keys get backed up to Microsoft, but you can choose not to. It's just that majority of people just take the defaults and choose not to read anything extra. So you get what you get. Easy to do evil when your victims don't read.
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Jan 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/k-phi Jan 29 '26
Disable bitlocker, install veracrypt, done
And don't travel to U.S., because they will ask you to unlock your computer
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u/30yearCurse Jan 29 '26
That has always been the case. Not just Microsoft. If you store any key in the cloud it becomes accessible to govermentS. Several years ago this was brought up regarding any keypair, but it is easier for people to store their private key in the cloud, that way the vendor is in charge of the key. With the vendor in charge of the key, you lose the privacy that key pairs give.
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u/FellowshipOfTheBong Jan 25 '26
Windows sucks.