WhatsApp alert! Free backups on Google Drive are not protected by encryption

WhatsApp has told its users that saved chats, messages, images and videos on Google Drive are not protected by end-to-end encryption.

WhatsApp had recently announced that its chat backups will no longer count in the Google Drive storage quota. Soon after this, it has revealed that Drive backups will not be protected by the same encryption that guards all those chats.

In its FAQ page, WhatsApp has given instruction about Goole Drive backup. While, giving details on steps of creating a Drive backup, it clearly mentioned that media and messages users backup aren't protected by WhatsApp end-to-end encryption while in Google Drive.

The backup to Google Drive is a simple way of storing chat history so if the user changes device, the data will not be lost.

Here’s how you can create a Google Drive backup:

Click on ‘Menu’ in the app

Go to: Settings > Chats > Chat backup

Tap ‘Back up to Google Drive’ and select a backup frequency other than ‘Never’

Users require having a Google account. If they don't have one, tap the option of ‘Add account’ when prompted and enter their login credentials

Last step is to tap ‘Back up over’ to choose the network you wish to use for backup