[palant]

Note: I am the author of this article.

They have at least one device with an unencrypted copy of their data, likely two or more. They only need this passphrase to set up sync. If they ever forget it, they reset sync, set a new passphrase and re-upload the data. No nuking.

[Vinnl]

I do believe (but, though I work at Mozilla, I don't work particularly close to the relevant team) that our support team regularly gets help requests from people who have locked themselves out after e.g. wiping their device, and we can't help them recover their data. It's a hard balance to strike between usability and privacy, though Google obviously guides the user more to the never-lose-my-data end of the spectrum that also happens to give them more insight into what the user does.

[dangus]

Almost 20% of Americans only access the Internet on their phone.

If I only own a phone, all I have to do is break my phone and forget my encryption passcode when I set up my new phone and I would lose all my bookmarks.

[kevincox]

Many users are effectively phone-only these days. Assuming that a user has at least two devices is dangerous.

[palant]

As I said, one device is enough.