WhatsApp chat backups gets end-to-end encryption: Here`s what it means

New Delhi: WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption is available to protect chats. However, WhatsApp chat backups kept on Google Drive for Android users and iCloud for iPhone users do not enjoy the same ability. Hackers used this to obtain personal information and other private data from WhatsApp users. 

To address this, WhatsApp stated last month that it will soon begin rolling out end-to-end encrypted chat backups on its network. Users will have to opt-in or enable this function, and it will be available in WhatsApp's Android and iOS apps in the coming weeks, the company said at the time. 

The end-to-end encryption for Whatsapp chat backups was momentarily enabled on its Android beta app, according to WABetaInfo, but it was afterwards deactivated in WhatsApp beta for Android version.21.15.7. The capability has now been activated in the Facebook-owned messaging app's Android beta version.

“In order to protect your backup using end-to-end encryption, you can choose a personal password or a 64-bit encryption key,” the blog site wrote in a post.

Before you enable this WhatsApp function, make sure you read the warning. The photos posted by the blogsite demonstrate that if users lose the key, WhatsApp would not be able to recover the encrypted backups because the firm does not have access to it. The only way to access the chat backups is to utilise the 64-digit encryption key or the password that users create.“Note that WhatsApp cannot help you to restore your chat history from an encrypted backup if you lose the password, so be sure to save it in a safe place,” the blog site added.

According to the report, while WhatsApp has rolled out this feature to all WhatsApp beta for Android users, it is conceivable that some users have not received the update. With the next upgrade, such users will receive end-to-end encrypted conversation backups.

Furthermore, WhatsApp for iOS users has begun to roll out end-to-end encrypted chat backups. According to reports, the WhatsApp beta for iOS 2.21.200.14 version has allowed end-to-end encrypted chat backups for a select group of iOS beta testers. While there is no specific date for the final release of WhatsApp's end-to-end encrypted chat backups, the feature is now accessible in the company's beta apps, so it shouldn't be long until it becomes available in the main apps.

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