When Amazon turned off the encryption feature for its Fire devices, the company suffered severe criticisms from its users. In order to win its customers confidence, Amazon has announced that it is restoring the security feature through an upcoming software update scheduled to arrive this spring.

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Amazon removed the encryption features on its devices that runs on the Fire OS - a heavily skinned version of Android - back in December. By turning off the encryption features, Amazon saved tons of resources in operation and maintenance costs. On the other hand, the company may have compromised the security of its users to an alarming degree.

Unsurprisingly, customers who noticed that encryption features on their Fire devices were turned off immediately voiced out their concerns. Amazon said in a statement that the decision to remove encryption features on the latest version of Fire OS was made since very few people use it.

Tech analysts and critics were, however, not impressed by Amazon's decision, especially in the wake of a highly publicized legal battle between Apple and the Federal Bureau of Investigations over encryption and security protocols.

In a statement, Amazon spokeswoman Robin Handley said, "We will return the option for full-disk encryption with a Fire OS update coming this spring."

Amazon added that the decision to turn off its encryption features was reached last fall, before the current case between the FBI and Apple. Despite this, tech experts said the decision was a poor cost-cutting strategy and it endangered the security of its users.

The encryption protocol installed on Amazon's Fire devices scramble user data so that sensitive information can only be accessed once the correct passcode is given. In the event that the password is incorrectly enter 30 times, Fire devices will automatically wipe all data stored into it in order to secure it from malicious users trying to get access.

TagsAmazon, Amazon Fire, Fire OS, Amazon Fire OS, Fire Tablet, amazon fire tablet