WhatsApp has been working on making your chat back-ups more secure with end-to-end encryption. The feature went up for a short time on beta versions of the messaging application for both Android and iOS, but was taken down later. Now, the Facebook-owned platform has once again reinstated end-to-end encrypted backups for its beta users on both operating systems.
End-to-end encrypted backups has been enabled in the latest WhatsApp beta for Android 2.21.21.5 update as well as WhatsApp beta for iOS 2.21.200.14 update, reported WABetaInfo.
WhatsApp had temporarily enabled the feature on WhatsApp beta for Android 2.21.15.5 update to protect backups while on Google Drive from unauthorised access. It was disabled later in the 2.21.15.7 beta update for Android users. It was enabled once again, first on iOS this time and later on Android.
In order to protect your backup using end-to-end encryption, you can choose a personal password or a 64-bit encryption key, consisting of number and lowercase letters from ‘a’ to ‘f’. Once enabled, neither WhatsApp, nor the backup service provider, be it Google Drive or iCloud, will be able to access the chat backup or the backup encryption key, a post by Facebook posted last month had explained.
Users will have to be careful with the password or the encryption key as WhatsApp will not be able to restore their chat history if these are lost. The password or the 64-bit encryption key will have to entered every time a user needs to restore their chat history.
The feature is likely to be rolled out for more beta users in coming updates. It can be found under the ‘Chats Backup’ section in the settings.
TOP GADGETS
See All
In another recent update for Android beta users, WhatsApp has redesigned the contact info page, similar to the interface seen for Business Info.