WhatsApp reportedly testing secure cloud backups for Android

The new feature independently encrypts your backups on the cloud

WhatsApp has begun testing a new feature that encrypts chat backups on the cloud, according to a report by WABetaInfo. The big caveat here is that if you manage to forget your secure passcode or the 64-bit recovery key, your data will be locked away forever.

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WhatsApp is finally rolling out end-to-end encrypted backups for beta testers today!https://t.co/Exs95QbHcE — WABetaInfo (@WABetaInfo) July 16, 2021

The way it works is that you create a password that will be used to encrypt your chat backups and you will always need to enter the password whenever you restore the chats on a new device. If you manage to lose the recovery key or forget the password, even WhatsApp will not be able to help you.

This may seem like a high price to pay but the trade off is that your chats are backed up and secure away from prying eyes and no one, including officials with search warrants for your chats will be able to see them. The key you receive is unique and can only be used by you. This information is also not shared with WhatsApp, Facebook, Google (Google Drive backups on Android) and Apple (iCloud backups on iPhone).

Of course, Facebook and WhatsApp will still be able to retain control over the meta-data (i.e. the names of the people involved in the chat, date, time etc.) but not the actual chats themselves.