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January 24, 2026, 2:10 PM

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Thomas Brewster / Forbes:

Microsoft confirms it does provide BitLocker recovery keys for encrypted data if it receives a valid legal order and the user has stored the keys on its servers — The tech giant said it receives around 20 requests for BitLocker keys a year and will provide them to governments in response to valid court orders.

More: Windows Central, TechCrunch, Hackread, MakeUseOf, Gizmodo, GovInfoSecurity.com, XDA Developers, Inc, Wired, Neowin, Notebookcheck, Tom's Hardware, Moneycontrol, Cyber Security News, Metacurity, OSnews, WinBuzzer, The Register, and Cryptonews

X: @matthew_d_green. LinkedIn: David Seidman, Thomas Brewster, and Adrienne Fichter

Mastodon: @jwildeboer@social …, @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social, and @evacide@hachyderm.io

Forums: Hacker News, r/europrivacy, r/Libertarian, Beehaw, and Slashdot

More:

Zac Bowden / Windows Central: Microsoft confirms it will give the FBI your Windows PC data encryption key if asked — you can thank Windows 11's forced online accounts for that

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai / TechCrunch: Microsoft gave FBI a set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops: Reports

Deeba Ahmed / Hackread: FBI Accessed Windows Laptops After Microsoft Shared BitLocker Recovery Keys

Gavin Phillips / MakeUseOf: Microsoft just gave us another great reason to switch to Linux

Bruce Gil / Gizmodo: Microsoft Reportedly Turned Over BitLocker Encryption Keys to the FBI

Chris Riotta / GovInfoSecurity.com: Microsoft Confirms Court-Ordered BitLocker Key Releases

Simon Batt / XDA Developers: Microsoft is reportedly giving BitLocker keys to law enforcement

Leila Sheridan / Inc: Microsoft Handed Encryption Keys to the FBI—Here's Why It Could Matter to You

Wired: Security News This Week: DOGE May Have Misused Social Security Data, DOJ Admits

Paul Hill / Neowin: FBI bypasses “impenetrable” encryption using BitLocker keys supplied by Microsoft

Marc Herter / Notebookcheck: Cloud risk with BitLocker: Microsoft occasionally hands over BitLocker keys to the FBI

Jowi Morales / Tom's Hardware: Microsoft gave customers' BitLocker encryption keys to the FBI — Redmond confirms that it provides recovery keys to government agencies with valid legal orders

Sarthak Singh / Moneycontrol: Microsoft hands BitLocker recovery keys to authorities, enabling access to encrypted laptops

Guru Baran / Cyber Security News: Microsoft Shares BitLocker Keys with FBI to Unlock Encrypted Laptops in Guam Fraud Investigation

Cynthia B Brumfield / Metacurity: A database with 149 million usernames and passwords was exposed on the internet

Thom Holwerda / OSnews: Microsoft gave FBI BitLocker keys to unlock encrypted data, because of course they did

Markus Kasanmascheff / WinBuzzer: Microsoft Gave The FBI BitLocker Encryption Keys, Breaking from Apple Privacy Stance

Thomas Claburn / The Register: Surrender as a service: Microsoft unlocks BitLocker for feds

Hassan Shittu / Cryptonews: Ethereum Founder Vitalik Buterin Ditches Big Tech: His 2026 “Self-Sovereign” Stack Reveals Surprising Changes

X:

Matthew Green / @matthew_d_green: Microsoft is handing over Bitlocker keys to law enforcement.

LinkedIn:

David Seidman: ICYMI: Microsoft has your consumer Bitlocker keys by default and will give them up if legally required. …

Thomas Brewster: 🚨 EXCLUSIVE 🚨 Microsoft has given encryption keys to the FBI to unlock data on laptops seized by investigators. …

Adrienne Fichter: “Microsoft tells me it receives around 20 requests for BitLocker keys every year. In many cases, but not all, it says it can't give the keys …

Mastodon:

@jwildeboer@social.wildeboer.net: If you decided during Windows install to upload your bitlocker keys to Microsoft, just know that Microsoft will hand these keys to authorities like the FBI if asked. So don't upload your keys. Which is the obvious thing to do anyway. …

Kevin Beaumont / @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social: I was wondering when a reporter would uncover this. — So BitLocker is super secure, right? Well... BitLocker recovery keys are backed up to Microsoft's Cloud - and they give them out to law enforcement on request. Using the BitLocker recovery key, you can just unlock the device without a PIN etc. …

@evacide@hachyderm.io: Do not store your Bitlocker encryption keys on Microsoft's servers if your threat model includes governments or law enforcement. As this article points out, this is the result of a design choice Microsoft made. It didn't have to be this way.

Forums:

Hacker News: MS confirms it will give the FBI your Windows PC data encryption key if asked

r/europrivacy: Microsoft confirms it will give the FBI your Windows PC data encryption key if asked — you can thank Windows 11's forced online accounts for that

r/Libertarian: Microsoft confirms it will give the FBI your Windows PC data encryption key if asked. You can thank Windows 11's forced online accounts for that.

Beehaw: Microsoft gave FBI a set of BitLocker encryption keys to unlock suspects' laptops: Reports

BeauHD / Slashdot: Microsoft Gave FBI a Set of BitLocker Encryption Keys To Unlock Suspects' Laptops

Reece Rogers / Wired:

TikTok users in the US were presented with a new privacy policy; the changes were part of the app's ownership transition and now