WhatsApp recently shared a series of tweets to announce the upcoming feature. As per the tweets, WhatsApp will soon enable end-to-end encryption for local as well as cloud backups for users on iOS and Android soon. You can check out the tweet attached right below. End-to-end encrypted backups are coming soon to iOS and Android. Keep an eye on this thread for updates! 👀— WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) September 10, 2021
Now, for those unaware, WhatsApp already offers E2EE support for messages to keep them secure and away from prying eyes. However, the feature is supported for cloud or local backups on the platform currently.
So, to secure the WhatsApp backups on Google Drive or iCloud and on the local storage, WhatsApp has been working to introduce end-to-end encryption for backups. It will enable users to set a unique encryption key for their cloud as well as local backups to prevent unauthorized access.
As per WhatsApp, the company had to overcome “an incredibly technical challenge” to develop the E2EE system for encrypted backups. The messaging giant says that it had to develop “an entirely new framework for key and cloud storage” to enable the feature.
While end-to-end encryption for backups is a pretty useful feature, it is worth mentioning that if a user forgets their encryption key, there is no way to recover the backups. It is because the encryption keys to access chat backups are stored locally on a user device and not sent to WhatsApp or the cloud service provider.
As for availability, WhatsApp will initially start rolling out E2EE support for backups to WhatsApp beta testers on iOS and Android. Based on the beta testing reports, the company might roll out the feature for global users in the coming months.
