WhatsApp has recently announced an extremely important new feature that some users have been asking for years and years, but which they did not expect to receive because the company kept refusing to provide it. Explanations regarding WhatsApp's decision not to implement this function did not come over time, but at the beginning of 2020 we have the first details about the function that allows us to password protect backups on Android.
WhatsApp had the first details provided last week regarding this function, but now we have additional information that also informs us that these backups will not only be password protected, but will also be encrypted. This means that when they reach Google's servers, they will be doubly protected, so whoever has access to the user's Google Drive account, and will be able to download that WhatsApp backup, will not really have anything to do with it.
WhatsApp: The Extremely IMPORTANT function that you would NOT have expected
WhatsApp will offer this new function only on phones with the Android operating system, and this is because in iOS iCloud is used for backups, without the possibility of choosing any other platform. In theory, those at WhatsApp should be able to protect the backups there too with a password, but from what is seen now, the functionality would be available exclusively for Android, and it is not known to what extent it could reach on the iPhone in the future.
“To prevent unauthorized access to your backup, you can set a password that will be used to encrypt future backups and will be required when you restore from the backup. WhatsApp will not be able to help recover forgotten passwords."
WhatsApp it also says that any kind of backup protected with a password will not be able to have that password recovered by the user in case he forgets it, so you lose all the data in it if you no longer know the password. This is not exactly a good situation for users, but when it comes to complete security, other methods of providing total protection for people do not really exist, and this is proof of the fact that WhatsApp does not know our passwords.
WhatsApp is finally starting to offer better protection for users around the world, which is great news, but it remains to be seen how everything will look in the final version.
