Encryption of chats in cloud storage is important as it will keep the chats safe and private. As seen in the recent past, WhatsApp chats of many celebrities were leaked online. Although WhatsApp protects your chats using end-to-end encryption, this feature is yet to be made available to store messages and media on Google Drive or iCloud. Instead, the backups are only protected by server-side encryption and the respective cloud storage services can decrypt the backups if the need arises. This makes the Chat backup solution less than ideal for the privacy-conscious.
According to WhatsApp features tracker WABetaInfo, the Facebook-owned messenger is reportedly working on a new feature that will let you encrypt your chat backups with a password, thereby preventing third-party access without your authorization.
In the two screenshots displayed below, this feature will prompt you to enter your phone numbers if you wish to encrypt your chat backup with a password. Furthermore, it will let you set a password to encrypt future backups.
The process of encrypting chat backup will be a multiple-step procedure. The app’s user will have to go to Settings in WhatsApp and will look for the option to encrypt when creating backups. After this, the app will give you the option to set a password for these backups. As this password is going to be required for all your future backups, and it will not be saved in WhatsApp, you must enter a strong password that you will remember. Once the password has been set, you will be required to type in your phone number again.
WABetaInfo further adds that the user’s password won’t be shared with WhatsApp which will make it difficult for him or her to recover forgotten passwords for the same reason. Though the launch time is yet to be made public, this new feature promises to be available to both users of iOS and Android smartphones.
