Comment by scripturial
5 months ago
Yes. There is no ability to know one way or the other if Google, and similar services retain a secondary way to access decryption key. In light of this the only option is to _assume_ they have the capability.
Given the carefully crafted way companies describe their encryption services, it seems more likely than not they have master keys of some sort.
That would definitely be a safe assumption, that Google can look into anything they own or is on what they own. It's not like they are strong privacy advocates or don't already cooperate with any state apparatus they see as profitable or to their benefit.