Hacker News Reader

That statement is correct. E2E encryption is only in effect between two devices communicating with each other. The moment the messages leave the app in any capacity (e.g., screenshots, backup, forwarded to another convo/contact, etc.) it is not longer protected by E2E encryption.

The backup file itself that is uploaded to iCloud/GDrive is encrypted; see: https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/136072/how-can-...

View on HN

It used to be encrypted. However, Google and Whatsapp have a deal that states Whatsapp backups dont count towards drive storage quotas. It became plaintext (or at least unencrypted after that)

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/whatsapp-google-drive-back...

From 2018 but also, this is referring to moving away from E2E encryption, which is true. However, the backup file that gets uploaded to Google Drive (Android) or iCloud (iOS) is encrypted (i.e., Google and Apple cannot read its content). See: https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/136072/how-can-...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com