WhatsApp users will now be able to protect their chat backups using end-to-end encryption

WhatsApp has added a new layer of security to its messaging app. The Facebook-owned company announced that it would now offer end-to-end encryption to chat backups in Google Drive and iCloud as well. WhatsApp has said that it has become the only large-scale messaging app to offer end-to-end encryption to chat backups as well. Announcing the new development, Facebook Mark Zuckerberg said, “We’re adding another layer of privacy and security to WhatsApp: an end-to-end encryption option for the backups people choose to store in Google Drive or iCloud. WhatsApp is the first global messaging service at this scale to offer end-to-end encrypted messaging and backups, and getting there was a really hard technical challenge that required an entirely new framework for key storage and cloud storage across operating systems.” WhatsApp noted in the blog that if users choose to enable end-to-end encrypted backups once available, neither WhatsApp nor the backup service provider like Google or Apple will be able to access their backup or their backup encryption key.