WhatsApp rolls out end-to-end encrypted backups feature

Monitoring Desk

CALIFORNIA: Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp can rightly boast of its encrypted messaging service as it takes pride in abiding by its staple rule that anything you share with your friends and family, remains private.

WhatsApp was founded on this very simple principle of privacy of users’ data. The messaging app said it implemented end-to-end encryption by default five years ago.

With its default encryption, it secures over 100 billion communications each day as they move back and forth between over two billion users of the messaging app.

The sent and received WhatsApp messages get stored in a user’s mobile phone memory. But the users want a means to back up their conversations in case their mobile phones get misplaced or stolen. To meet this justifiable demand, WhatsApp has rolled out a feature with an optional layer of security for backup of a user’s communications that is stored on Google Drive or iCloud.

No other messaging service offers this degree of protection for its users’ messages, media, and other personal information. This end-to-end encrypted backup can now be protected with the help of a password of your choice or a 64-digit encryption key known only to you.

The Facebook-owned messaging service provider said the backup is so well-protected that your backups or your key needed to unlock them will not be accessible to both WhatsApp and your backup service provider.

This feature of backups will be available to people who have the most recent version of WhatsApp installed on their devices and gradually, it will be provided to over two billion users.