Microsoft just confirmed what privacy advocates have long feared: the company will hand over your Windows PC's encryption keys to federal authorities when served with a valid warrant. This isn't hypothetical—it already happened.
Earlier this year, the FBI requested recovery keys for encrypted data on three laptops during a fraud investigation in Guam, and Microsoft complied. The disclosure marks the first publicly documented instance of Microsoft providing BitLocker encryption keys to law enforcement, exposing what experts are calling a fundamental privacy flaw in Windows' data protection.
BitLocker is Microsoft's built-in encryption tool that scrambles data on your hard drive, making it unreadable without a recovery key. The catch? Microsoft backs up your BitLocker keys online by default, storing them on company servers that can be accessed with a court order. Microsoft spokesperson Charles Chamberlayne confirmed the company receives around 20 requests for BitLocker keys annually, though many fail because users store keys locally instead.
This approach stands in stark contrast to Apple and Google. Both companies architect their encryption systems so that even they cannot access user data under a court order. Apple famously refused to unlock iPhones for the FBI after the 2016 San Bernardino shooting, forcing investigators to find alternative methods. Neither Apple nor Meta is known to have turned over encryption keys to authorities.
"If Apple can do it, if Google can do it, then Microsoft can do it," cryptography expert Matt Green from Johns Hopkins University told Forbes. "Microsoft is the only company that's not doing this."
The revelation has reignited debate about the balance between user privacy and law enforcement access. ACLU counsel Jennifer Granick warned that "foreign governments with questionable human rights records" may also seek to compel Microsoft to hand over keys, raising concerns beyond US borders.
How to protect yourself: Windows Pro users can prevent cloud backup through Group Policy settings, while all users can manually save recovery keys to a USB drive instead of Microsoft's servers. Go to Control Panel > System and Security > BitLocker Drive Encryption to manage your keys. However, understand the trade-off: storing keys locally means Microsoft can't help if you lose access to your device.
The Guam case remains ongoing, but the precedent is now clear. Your encrypted Windows data is only as private as Microsoft's willingness to resist legal pressure—and that willingness appears limited.