Microsoft has confirmed in a statement to Forbes that the company will provide the FBI access to BitLocker encryption keys if a valid legal order is requested. These keys enable the ability to decrypt and access the data on a computer running Windows, giving law enforcement the ability to break into a device to access its data.
The news comes as Forbes reports that Microsoft gave the FBI the BitLocker encryption keys to access a device in Guam that law enforcement believed to have “evidence that would help prove individuals handling the island’s Covid unemployment assistance program were part of a plot to steal funds” in early 2025.
Microsoft told Forbes that it receives around 20 requests for BitLocker encryption keys from the FBI a year, but the majority of requests are unable to be met because the encryption key was never uploaded to the company’s cloud.
This is notable as other tech companies, such as Apple, have famously refused to provide law enforcement with access to data stored on their products. Apple has openly fought against the FBI in the past when it was asked to provide a backdoor into an iPhone. Other tech giants, such as Meta, will store encryption keys in the cloud, but will encrypt the keys server-side so that only the user can access them.
It’s frankly shocking that the encryption keys that do get uploaded to Microsoft aren’t encrypted on the cloud side, too. That would prevent Microsoft from seeing the keys, but it seems that, as things currently stand, those keys are available in an unencrypted state, and it is a privacy nightmare for customers.
To see Microsoft so willingly hand over the keys to encrypted Windows PCs is concerning, and should make everybody using a modern Windows computer think twice before backing up their keys to the cloud. You can see which PCs have their BitLocker keys stored on Microsoft’s servers on the Microsoft Account website here, which will let you delete them if present.
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