WhatsApp Auto Backups on Google Drive Not Protected by Encryption
In a revelation that’s being described asshockingandunacceptableby sections of the media and users alike,WhatsApphas announced that backed-up chats, messages, images and videos onGoogle Driveare not protected by the former’s end-to-end encryption.
In a message postedon the FAQ sectionof its official blog, the Facebook-owned messaging platform says that“Media and messages you back up aren’t protected by WhatsApp end-to-end encryption while in Google Drive”.
The development comes just days after the Google and WhatsAppannounced a tie-upthat will allow people to back-up all their WhatsApp messages on Google Drive without worrying about running out of free storage.
According to e-mails sent by Google to Gmail users earlier this month, WhatsApp “backups will no longer count against Google Drive storage quota” as part of an agreement between the two companies.
It’s worth noting here that end-to-end encryption is one of the most important WhatsApp features that became a bone of contention recently after the Indian governmentasked the companyto find a technological solution to trace the origin of messages on its platform.
The diktat, ostensibly to fight thespread of hoaxes and fake news, was vigorously resisted by WhatsApp on grounds of privacy, earning the wrath of the IT Ministry, which eventhreatened the company with abetment charges, should something go wrong because ofviral hoaxeson WhatsApp once again.
It’s worth noting here that even though the privacy of WhatsApp messages may be compromised once they are backed up on Google Drive, the backup process itself is completely voluntary, and users can turn off automatic Google Drive backups by going over toSettings > Chats > Chat Backup > Backup to Google Drive, and changing the setting to‘Never’.
Kishalaya Kundu
Passionate techie. Professional tech writer. Proud geek.
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