WhatsApp has been offering end-to-end encryption for chats for years and starting from Thursday, WhatsApp’s end-to-end encrypted chat backups for iOS and Android will be available.
WhatsApp backups are stored in iCloud or Google Drive, but that means that Apple or Google could hand over the backups to governments or law enforcement if compelled. With the change available on Thursday, you can secure your WhatsApp cloud backups with a password or a 64-digit encryption key, which theoretically means that no one else but you will be able to access the backup.
The Facebook-owned company says “with end-to-end encrypted backup, you can also add that same layer of protection to your iCloud and Google Drive backups.” Since 2016, WhatsApp has offered its users end-to-end encryption by default for messages, video and audio calls. In a blog post, the company revealed that this “encryption protects over 100 billion messages a day as they travel between more than two billion users globally.”
How to enable end-to-end encrypted backups on WhatsApp
- Download and install the latest version of WhatsApp from Google Playstore or Apple Store.
- Open WhatsApp and head to the Settings.
- Tap Chats > Chat Backup.
- Go to End-to-end Encrypted Backup and tap Continue. After that, you need to follow the prompts to create a password or an encryption key.
- Tap Done, and wait for WhatsApp to prepare an end-to-end encrypted backup.
The new end-to-end encrypted backup feature lets users set either a password of their choice or a 64-digit encryption key that only they know. So, no other third party service will be able to access the chats. But remember, if you forget the password, then you lose access to the chat backup as well.
