Mark Zuckerberg says WhatsApp will start rolling out e2e encrypted backups to iOS and Android users in the coming weeks as an optional feature
WhatsApp said on Friday it will give its two billion users the option to encrypt their chat backups to the cloud, taking a significant step to put …
TechCrunch
Context & Ripple Effects
WhatsApp had already been testing encrypted cloud backups on Android before extending the feature across both mobile platforms. The rollout makes backup protection an explicit opt-in layer alongside WhatsApp’s existing end-to-end encrypted chats.
Related coverage records the feature reaching iCloud and Google Drive in a later broader backup-encryption rollout, then being paired with protected cross-platform chat-history transfers.
First-order effects
WhatsApp users on iOS and Android gain an optional way to encrypt stored chat histories, extending protection beyond messages in transit to cloud-held backups.
WhatsApp must support a backup flow that works across both Apple’s and Google’s cloud environments while leaving adoption to individual users.
Apple and Google remain the storage destinations for WhatsApp backups, but encryption shifts WhatsApp toward owning the security model for the data saved there.
Third-order effects
The later move to passkey-encrypted backups suggests WhatsApp’s backup strategy is evolving from adding encryption to reducing the authentication friction that can limit its use.
If this pattern holds, messaging privacy will increasingly be judged across recovery, backup, and device migration—not only the live chat session.
The trend: WhatsApp is broadening end-to-end encryption from live conversations into the full lifecycle of message history, including storage and transfer.
Yet we're far from a consensus on this. Some governments continue to suggest using their powers to require companies to offer weaker security. We think that's backwards: we should demand more security from companies for people's sensitive information, not less.
Holy encrypted backups, Batman! WhatsApp will let you encrypt your chat backups with a key you keep yourself! Plaintext backups are the largest hole in end-to-end encryption by several orders of magnitude. Apple, your turn. https://techcrunch.com/... https://twitter.com/...
You know this is a good thing... because the company will almost certainly face government pushback. Plain language: they closed a loophole that could be used to access unencrypted backups of your chats if you back them up on iCloud or Google Drive https://twitter.com/...
This has been years in the making. We're taking advantage of developments in hardware storage to safely store your backup encryption key in a vault no one else can access.
This is the kind of product that Facebook needs to focus on, not on glasses with camera. Also, to Apple, after the CSAM fiasco, this says, ‘Shots fired’ https://twitter.com/...
Encrypted backups will be optional, and each user must turn it on to use it, which means you still won't be able to tell if your texts will end up getting saved unencrypted to the cloud because of someone else's settings... but still this is a major step forward
@WhatsApp I can imagine WhatsApp receiving some sort of resistance or persuasions to not implement the backup encryption. Thanks for pushing through and releasing that Hope this inspire the other company to consider doing the same
Everyone - people, experts, industry - must push for more security as devices become even more important to our lives. We know we are a small part of that and I'm thankful for the amazing people who have been tireless in their advocacy for more privacy and security for years.
This is an important announcement by @WhatsApp that will make access to chats by law enforcing agencies difficult. Hope that there are no fine prints & it does precisely what it claims. But I can't see this update in India yet. Some details https://engineering.fb.com/... @BhallaA…
One of the main issues with WhatsApp as a secure messaging app is that backups are stored unencrypted in Google Drive or iCloud. They're fixing it though using a new well thought-out E2EE cloud backup system! https://engineering.fb.com/...
We're providing options to remember a 64 bit key or choose a password we do not know and cannot access. Neither can Apple or Google. You can read more here https://engineering.fb.com/...
WhatsApp is adding another layer of security - end-to-end encrypted backups - and will soon begin rolling out this extra layer of protection to iCloud and GoogleDrive users globally. https://ow.ly/...
WhatsApp will let users encrypt iCloud or Google Drive backups in an upcoming release, and I suggest folks enable the feature when it's ready. (Lots of peeps don't know backups aren't encrypted. Paul Manafort learned the hard way.) https://www.wsj.com/...
New: WhatsApp will (finally!) let users encrypt their chat backups in the cloud — and store their own encryption keys. w/ @refsrc https://techcrunch.com/...