I just purchased a Samsung Galaxy S9 + in April, replacing my Samsung Galaxy S5. I was using a 32 Gig SanDisk SD card which I encrypted in the S5. I decrypted the SD card in the S5 and inserted it into the new S9+. No problems, it was recognized and I could read/write to it.
2 weeks ago, I decided to encrypt the SD card in the S9+. I went into Security, and Encrypt SD Card. A short while later, the phone displayed a message that my SD card was now encrypted. Nice! I re started the phone, etc...
The next day, I decided to verify the encryption. I removed the SD card and popped it into my laptop. (phone not connected in any way to the computer) I was shocked that I could read all the data! I put it back into the phone and sure enough, the phone said that the SD card was encrypted.
I then re formatted the SD card in my laptop, tried again encrypting it in the phone. Phone displayed that it was now encrypted, but NO, I could still read the data from my laptop. I even tried from a different laptop. I have restored the phone back to factory defaults maybe 5 times, testing the encryption, still each time the phone says the SD card is encrypted, but it is still readable from any computer.
I drove to the T-Mobile Store and let them know. They verified that I did everything correctly, but said I needed to call Samsung. Samsung sent me to see the Samsung rep in a Best Buy about 40 minutes from my house. Not pleased, but I went. The rep had no answer for me. Said I needed to go back to T-Mobile to get a new phone.
I called Samsung again. They asked me what kind of SD card I was using. I said it was a SanDisk, but it is working fine, I could read and write to it. He insisted that Samsung suggests the Samsung EVO Class 10 SD cards.
So I went out and purchased a Samsung EVO Class 10 64 Gig SD card. Again, restored the phone to default, encrypted the card, but still readable from my laptop!
I went back to T-Mobile and demanded a new phone. It was a real battle because it has been 45 days or so. They wanted to send my NEW phone out for "repair". Not going to happen, give me a new phone. They did.
Put the new SD card into the phone, encrypted it, took it out and tested it on my laptop, ALL DATA STILL READABLE!
I called Samsung again, (3rd call) After much discussion, the woman called their support service center. She came back and said that they are getting reports of this and that they are working on an update and it will be released in the future. I asked when??? She could not tell me. And when it is released, how soon will it roll out to T-Mobile users?
She could not tell me. She transferred me to another tech. He asked me to send it in for repair. I told him I did not want to do that, it was a brand new phone, both of them! I asked him to call the service center. He did and came back and said it was not a common issue and my phone needed to be repaired.
!??? I said that I have two brand new phones, right out of the box, 45 days apart, and I just happened to get the two phones with this problem?
He then said that I needed to send my new phone to a 3rd party vendor, that is not even a Samsung company. ( "u break, we fix" or something like that ) Then gave their phone number so I can call, get an appointment, call them for a shipping label etc. I was shocked!!!
*** To ANYONE that has an SD Card that you "think" is encrypted, test it! Take it out of your phone and see if you can read the data from a computer. If it is readable, call Samsung, or your other phone manufacture. This is not an isolated case. I just by sure luck did not get the only two Samsung S9 + phones with this problem, 45 days apart!
I said to Samsung, can you imagine how Samsung is opening themselves up to liability? There are thousands and thousands of people (probably) who have SD cards in their phones, that their phone says is encrypted, but it's really not!
I have a brand new S9+, that I can't trust to use it.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Please also post your message to the phone boards so hopefully they will take notice.
2 weeks ago, I decided to encrypt the SD card in the S9+. I went into Security, and Encrypt SD Card. A short while later, the phone displayed a message that my SD card was now encrypted. Nice! I re started the phone, etc...
The next day, I decided to verify the encryption. I removed the SD card and popped it into my laptop. (phone not connected in any way to the computer) I was shocked that I could read all the data! I put it back into the phone and sure enough, the phone said that the SD card was encrypted.
I then re formatted the SD card in my laptop, tried again encrypting it in the phone. Phone displayed that it was now encrypted, but NO, I could still read the data from my laptop. I even tried from a different laptop. I have restored the phone back to factory defaults maybe 5 times, testing the encryption, still each time the phone says the SD card is encrypted, but it is still readable from any computer.
I drove to the T-Mobile Store and let them know. They verified that I did everything correctly, but said I needed to call Samsung. Samsung sent me to see the Samsung rep in a Best Buy about 40 minutes from my house. Not pleased, but I went. The rep had no answer for me. Said I needed to go back to T-Mobile to get a new phone.
I called Samsung again. They asked me what kind of SD card I was using. I said it was a SanDisk, but it is working fine, I could read and write to it. He insisted that Samsung suggests the Samsung EVO Class 10 SD cards.
So I went out and purchased a Samsung EVO Class 10 64 Gig SD card. Again, restored the phone to default, encrypted the card, but still readable from my laptop!
I went back to T-Mobile and demanded a new phone. It was a real battle because it has been 45 days or so. They wanted to send my NEW phone out for "repair". Not going to happen, give me a new phone. They did.
Put the new SD card into the phone, encrypted it, took it out and tested it on my laptop, ALL DATA STILL READABLE!
I called Samsung again, (3rd call) After much discussion, the woman called their support service center. She came back and said that they are getting reports of this and that they are working on an update and it will be released in the future. I asked when??? She could not tell me. And when it is released, how soon will it roll out to T-Mobile users?
She could not tell me. She transferred me to another tech. He asked me to send it in for repair. I told him I did not want to do that, it was a brand new phone, both of them! I asked him to call the service center. He did and came back and said it was not a common issue and my phone needed to be repaired.
!??? I said that I have two brand new phones, right out of the box, 45 days apart, and I just happened to get the two phones with this problem?
He then said that I needed to send my new phone to a 3rd party vendor, that is not even a Samsung company. ( "u break, we fix" or something like that ) Then gave their phone number so I can call, get an appointment, call them for a shipping label etc. I was shocked!!!
*** To ANYONE that has an SD Card that you "think" is encrypted, test it! Take it out of your phone and see if you can read the data from a computer. If it is readable, call Samsung, or your other phone manufacture. This is not an isolated case. I just by sure luck did not get the only two Samsung S9 + phones with this problem, 45 days apart!
I said to Samsung, can you imagine how Samsung is opening themselves up to liability? There are thousands and thousands of people (probably) who have SD cards in their phones, that their phone says is encrypted, but it's really not!
I have a brand new S9+, that I can't trust to use it.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Please also post your message to the phone boards so hopefully they will take notice.
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