A Google spokesperson reiterated a statement on the pact, adding “any backups that have not been updated in more than a year will automatically be removed from storage”. While the messaging platform itself is encrypted, “for users who choose to backup, the messages are decrypted on your phone and sent to your drive as backup,” Kothapallli said, adding that this is where there could be cause for action.Ī mail to WhatsApp seeking additional comments did not elicit response on Sunday. Further,WhatsApp guarantees protection to users from third parties trying to eavesdrop on conversations, and even prevents WhatsApp itself from reading the messages.

WhatsApp provides end to end encryption, meaning the message a user sends can only be read by the recipient and vice versa. While Google does encrypt files on the server side they also ultimately control the keys for those - which can be provided to law enforcement authorities on the basis of a warrant,' said Karan Saini, independent security researcher. 'From a privacy perspective (completely discounting convenience) online backups are no good regardless of who the custodian is.

So, if you trust Google, you can enable it.” “As a WhatsApp user you have the choice to not backup your data to Google Drive,” said Sai Krishna Kothapalli, an independent security researcher.“They (WhatsApp) are not forcing you to backup.

Is google drive secure encrypted