Instant messaging app WhatsApp has ensured that your chats remain private. Chats on the platform are end-to-end encrypted and therefore gives a sense of security to users. But this feature is only for your current messages on the app. There is no such encryption for chats they are backed to iCloud or Google Drive by users. This simply means that if there is a search warrant, these cloud companies would be required to hand over data access and this will include WhatsApp chats backup as they are not encrypted. But it seems this will be the case for just a matter of days as the Facebook-owned company is working on chat backup encryption.
There are reports that WhatsApp is now testing a technology on Android to independently encrypt WhatsApp backups on the drive. Some reports further suggest that the update has been enabled on version 2.21.15.5 of WhatsApp on Android platforms. At present beta testing for the feature is underway and it is expected that users will have the option to opt for this feature. This is totally understandable as there is the possibility of major risk. So when the feature is activated, both media history as well chat are stored in the cloud backups. This can be then protected using a password. But there’s a catch as in case you losses your smartphone and forget your password, it is almost certain that it won’t be possible to restore the backup.
As the backup password won’t be shared with WhatsApp, Google or Facebook, recovering the backup becomes impossible. The reports suggest that passwords will contain only lowercase letters and digits. The feature is still in the testing phase and it is not sure whether it will see the light of the day or not. But one this is sure that this feature will bring a major relief for users as they would be able to keep their chats secure. There are several other features that WhatsApp is testing and if everything goes well, they would surely be rolled out soon.
