You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Does the back disk on external drive need to be encrypted?

Does the back disk on external drive need to be encrypted?


MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on May 25, 2020 12:29 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 25, 2020 12:35 PM

NO disk NEEDS to be encrypted, unless the data on it are required to be encrypted by law, such as Health information subject to HIPPA regulations. If you prefer it, you can encrypt the built-in drive on your MacBook Pro as protection for you if the entire unit is stolen.


If you are confident that your Backup DRIVE is not especially likely to be stolen, it does not need to be encrypted.


Encrypted drives are generally NOT partially recoverable. One serious error and you lose it ALL.


NOT encrypted drives are far, far more likely to produce partial results in the event of a disk problem.


1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 25, 2020 12:35 PM in response to MJCHR

NO disk NEEDS to be encrypted, unless the data on it are required to be encrypted by law, such as Health information subject to HIPPA regulations. If you prefer it, you can encrypt the built-in drive on your MacBook Pro as protection for you if the entire unit is stolen.


If you are confident that your Backup DRIVE is not especially likely to be stolen, it does not need to be encrypted.


Encrypted drives are generally NOT partially recoverable. One serious error and you lose it ALL.


NOT encrypted drives are far, far more likely to produce partial results in the event of a disk problem.


Does the back disk on external drive need to be encrypted?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.