Update: After a long wait, it’s now possible to encrypt your WhatsApp chat history on both Android and iOS. Announced on Thursday by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook has started rolling this feature slowly to ensure it can deliver a consistent and reliable experience to all users.
In simple words, this feature will allow you to secure your backups either with a password or 64-digit encryption key before you upload them to iCloud or Google Drive, due to which neither WhatsApp nor your cloud service provider will be able to access those files.
One can access this feature by navigating to Settings > Chats > Chat Backups > End-to-End Encrypted Backup.
Original Article: When you use WhatsApp, your messages are encrypted from beginning to end, making it difficult for prying eyes to see what’s in them as they go back and forth. Authorities can use a search warrant to force Google Drive or iCloud to hand over access to your data if you keep a backup in the cloud.
However, WABetaInfo previously reported that WhatsApp is working on a technology that would allow you to encrypt your backups in the cloud independently and that the system has been activated in the most recent Android beta release (2.21.15.5).
Opting in should keep your chat history and media safe, with the exception that if you forget your passcode or lose the 64-digit recovery key, they’ll be permanently locked away, and even WhatsApp won’t be able to assist you to get back in. If you don’t mind being on your own in that respect, all you have to do now is join the beta test group or wait for it to become available to the general public.
The Facebook-owned service is also experimenting with a version of the software that works across various devices and maintains end-to-end encryption regardless of whether or not you’re using a phone. If you’re a beta tester, double-check your version, as social media reports indicate that the closed encryption testing is expanding to include more people.