Secure data storage

The Secure data storage feature enables data to be encrypted with a PIN code to securely store it on the device and protect it from unauthorized access. When using a PIN, the data is associated with information known only by the user. For more information, see App protection with PIN.

Data stored locally on the device is tied to the device itself. For this purpose, a key is computed based on device-specific information in the app's data storage. This key protects the data from unauthorized access and is used to encrypt sensitive data before actually storing it.

This feature prevents sensitive data from being stored to another device and cannot be disabled.

The information from which the device-specific key is generated is called device fingerprint and is unique for every device.

In Android 6.0 and later, the storage can be protected by secure hardware (e.g. Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) or Secure Element (SE)) to set up a very strong binding between the storage and the mobile device.