WhatsApp has started rolling out the option for end-to-end (E2E) encryption of chat backups on both iOS and Android devices.
How to End-to-End Encrypt Your WhatsApp Chat Backups in Google Drive [Decrypt]
As Facebook noted in the announcement, WhatsApp already uses end-to-end encryption for chats stored on your phone. However, chat backups stored on Google Drive or iCloud weren’t encrypted in the same way, and many users were clamoring for that to change. So WhatsApp has been slowly adding the feature.
Encrypting your backups is optional, so if you don't want to take the steps to set it up, you don't have to. However, if you do want to encrypt your backups, you can choose to set your own personal password or use a 64-digit encryption key.
According to Facebook, once your backups are encrypted, they are no longer readable by Facebook, WhatsApp, or your backup service provider (e.g. Google Drive or iCloud). Only you or someone with your password or encryption key can view those backups.
