--- title: "An Easy Way to Secure Your Sensitive Data on Android" description: "Here is an easy way to secure your sensitive data on Android" canonical: https://oozou.com/blog/an-easy-way-to-secure-your-sensitive-data-on-android-92 locale: en date: 2020-08-31 author: "OOZOU Team" --- # An Easy Way to Secure Your Sensitive Data on Android > Here is an easy way to secure your sensitive data on Android Published: 2020-08-31 · Author: OOZOU Team (Engineering) · 6 min read When building Android apps, storing sensitive data like user credentials, PIN codes, and tokens securely is crucial. Traditionally, **SharedPreferences** in Android is used to store simple **key-value pairs**, but data stored in **SharedPreferences** is not encrypted by default. This presents a potential security risk for **sensitive data** stored in the app. Thankfully, Android’s **Encrypted Shared Preferences** allows developers to **encrypt data stored in SharedPreferences**, providing a secure way to store sensitive information. This **encrypted shared preferences** feature is available through the **Android Security Library**, making it easy to protect your app’s **data stored** on the device. In this article, we will explore how to implement **encrypted shared preferences** in Android, using **the security library**to safeguard **keys and values** in **SharedPreferences**. We’ll cover everything from setting up the **encryption** to how **data is stored in** a secure manner, and show how it works through code examples. # What Are Encrypted Shared Preferences in Android? **Encrypted Shared Preferences** are a secure way to store **key-value pairs** in Android using **AES-256 encryption**. This feature is part of the **Android Security Library** and ensures that **data stored in** SharedPreferences is encrypted both at rest and in memory. When using **encrypted shared preferences**, both the keys and values in **SharedPreferences** are encrypted, preventing unauthorized access to **the data**. **Why Use Encrypted Shared Preferences?** - **Secure Sensitive Data**: With **encrypted shared preferences**, you can store sensitive data like passwords, tokens, and user preferences securely. - **Easy to Implement**: The **Android Security Library** makes it simple to encrypt data without the need for custom encryption logic. - **Hardware-Backed Keystore**: In modern devices, **encrypted shared preferences** can leverage the device's **hardware-backed keystore**, offering even stronger security. # How to Use Encrypted Shared Preferences in Android To get started with **encrypted shared preferences**, you need to set up **the Android Security Library** in your project. Here’s how to do it step by step. **Step 1: Add Dependencies** In your build.gradle file, add the **security library** dependency to your app module: ``` groovy implementation 'androidx.security:security-crypto:1.1.0-alpha02' ``` This library provides the necessary tools to **encrypt data** in **SharedPreferences** and files. **Step 2: Initialize Master Key** Before we can use **encrypted shared preferences**, we need to create a **MasterKey**. This key is used to encrypt and decrypt **the data** in **SharedPreferences**. ``` kotlin val masterKey = MasterKey.Builder(applicationContext) .setKeyScheme(MasterKey.KeyScheme.AES256_GCM) .build() ``` The **MasterKey** is automatically stored securely by Android, often in the **hardware-backed keystore**, depending on the device’s capabilities. **Step 3: Create Encrypted Shared Preferences** Next, we will create an instance of **EncryptedSharedPreferences**. This class allows you to store **key-value pairs** in an encrypted format. ``` kotlin val sharedPreferences = EncryptedSharedPreferences.create( applicationContext, "encrypted_prefs", // File name for SharedPreferences masterKey, // Master key for encryption EncryptedSharedPreferences.PrefKeyEncryptionScheme.AES256_SIV, EncryptedSharedPreferences.PrefValueEncryptionScheme.AES256_GCM ) ``` - **"encrypted_prefs"**: This is the name of the file where the encrypted data will be stored. - **AES256_SIV**: This is the encryption scheme for the keys. - **AES256_GCM**: This is the encryption scheme for the values.**Step 4: Storing and Retrieving Data** Once you have initialized **encrypted shared preferences**, you can store and retrieve data in the same way you would with regular **SharedPreferences**, but now the **data stored in** the file will be encrypted. **Storing Data:** ``` kotlin sharedPreferences.edit().putString("USER_PIN", "123456").apply() ``` **Retrieving Data:** ``` kotlin val userPin = sharedPreferences.getString("USER_PIN", null) ``` In this case, the **USER_PIN** is securely stored in **encrypted shared preferences**. The data is encrypted before it is saved, and it is automatically decrypted when retrieved. **Step 5: Viewing the Encrypted Data** Here’s what the **data stored in** an encrypted **SharedPreferences** file looks like: ``` xml Encrypted... Encrypted... Encrypted... ``` As you can see, the keys and values are encrypted, ensuring that even if someone gains access to the file, they will not be able to read the sensitive data. # Benefits of Using Encrypted Shared Preferences 1. **Data Security** Using **encrypted shared preferences** ensures that sensitive data like passwords, user preferences, and tokens are stored securely. The encryption happens automatically, reducing the risk of data exposure. 2. **Simple to Implement** The **Android Security Library** simplifies the process of adding encryption to your app. You can quickly integrate it into your project without the need for complex encryption logic. 3. **Compatibility** The library supports Android 6.0 (API 23) and above, making it widely compatible with most modern Android devices. 4. **Hardware-Backed Encryption** On devices that support it, the **hardware-backed keystore** adds an extra layer of security, ensuring that encryption keys are securely stored in hardware, protecting them from tampering. 5. **Protects Both Keys and Values** Unlike some encryption approaches that only encrypt values, **encrypted shared preferences** encrypts both keys and values, providing a complete security solution for your app’s data. # Conclusion: The Easiest Way to Secure Data in Android In this article, we covered how to use **encrypted shared preferences** in Android to securely store **sensitive data** such as PIN codes, tokens, and user preferences. With just a few lines of code, you can integrate **the Android Security Library**into your app, providing a robust way to store encrypted data. This is an easy and effective solution to protect your users’ data, and as the **Android Security Library** matures, it will continue to offer even more powerful security features. Implementing **encrypted shared preferences** is an essential step toward making your Android apps more secure and protecting data stored in your app from unauthorized access. # FAQs **1\. What are Encrypted Shared Preferences in Android?**Encrypted Shared Preferences allow you to store **key-value pairs** in **SharedPreferences** securely by encrypting both the keys and values using **AES-256 encryption**. **2\. How do I implement Encrypted Shared Preferences?**To implement **encrypted shared preferences**, you need to use the **Android Security Library**, create a **MasterKey**, and then use **EncryptedSharedPreferences** to store and retrieve data securely. **3\. Can I use encrypted shared preferences on older Android versions?**Yes, the library supports Android 6.0 (API 23) and above. On devices with older versions of Android, **software-based encryption** is used. **4\. How is data stored in Encrypted Shared Preferences different from regular Shared Preferences?**In regular **SharedPreferences**, the data is stored in plaintext, while in **encrypted shared preferences**, both the keys and values are encrypted, providing enhanced security for sensitive data. **5\. What encryption algorithms does Encrypted Shared Preferences use?**EncryptedSharedPreferences** uses **AES-256 SIV** for encrypting the keys and **AES-256 GCM** for encrypting the values. **6\. Is the encryption in Encrypted Shared Preferences hardware-backed?**On devices that support it, the **MasterKey**used by **EncryptedSharedPreferences** is stored in a **hardware-backed keystore**, which provides additional security by protecting the encryption keys in hardware. By using **encrypted shared preferences**, you can secure sensitive data in your Android apps, ensuring that user information is stored safely and securely. --- Contact OOZOU: hello@oozou.com · +66 2544 0000 · https://oozou.com/contact More for AI agents: https://oozou.com/llms.txt · every page has a markdown twin at its URL plus ".md"