It is really hard to find anyone that defends Microsoft anymore. From their updates that break your gear to the major push toward AI. With the fact that Microsoft does a lot of business with the government, this makes sense. Microsoft is letting people know, we will hand over your encryption keys to the Feds. If they have a warrant. Many other companies fight these, like Apple, but Microsoft like to show its belly.
This comes out after what happened last year. In early 2025, Forbes reported, investigators at the FBI served Microsoft with a warrant seeking BitLocker encryption recovery keys. It was for several laptops believed held evidence of fraud in Guam’s COVID-19 unemployment assistance program. And Microsoft complied with the FBI’s request.
BitLocker is automatically enabled on most modern Windows PCs. Users can choose to store the keys on a separate device, or via Microsoft’s cloud service (which is the default option).
Microsoft Encryption Keys Aren’t Private
“While key recovery offers convenience, it also carries a risk of unwanted access, so Microsoft believes customers are in the best position to decide how to manage their keys,” said Microsoft spokesperson Charles Chamberlayne. He added that the company receives around 20 such requests per year. If the decryption key is not stored on Microsoft’s servers, the company can’t do anything.
“This is private data on a private computer and they made the architectural choice to hold access to that data,” said Matt Green, cryptography expert from Johns Hopkins University. “If Apple can do it, if Google can do it, then Microsoft can do it. Microsoft is the only company that’s not doing this. It’s a little weird…”
Many people will act shocked Microsoft would do this. As I mentioned earlier, they have a large government contract. Money will trample privacy anytime. And the government knows that.
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