WhatsApp touts itself to be one of the most secure messaging platform in the world all thanks to a technology called end-to-end encryption (E2E). This encryption tech ensures that only the sender and the recipient of the message are able to read the contents of the text and even WhatsApp cannot read what the message is. Also Read - WhatsApp removes this feature for Android, iOS users: Know details
Not only text messages but images, videos, documents and whatever you send via the app is encrypted using E2E. Also Read - WhatsApp multi-device support available for Android, iOS users: How to enable the setting
Despite the security feature, the Facebook-owned messaging platform also offers its users a way to manually confirm that the chats between two users are E2E encrypted. You do not need to install additional software to check the encryption on the app and the setting for the same can be found within the app. Also Read - How to send disappearing photos and videos on WhatsApp in a few simple steps
Here’s how you can check WhatsApp encryption manually:
First, open the app and click on the contact name you want to confirm the encryption with.
2. Tap on the three-dot hamburger menu on the top-right corner and select ‘View Contact’.
3. Scroll down and you will see the ‘Encryption’ option.
4. Tap on ‘Encryption’ and you will see a QR code with a set of numbers on the screen.
5. The contact you want to send the message to should have the exact same numbers at their end in the ‘Encryption’ option. If the numbers match that means that messages between the two users are end-to-end encrypted.
6. You can also manually scan the QR code by using the ‘Scan Code’ option at the bottom right corner in the “Encryption’ window.
This is the easiest way to double-check whether your messages are end-to-end encrypted or not.
E2E ensures that your messages are kept safe from prying eyes. Though the messages on the app are end-to-end encrypted you should be aware that WhatsApp messages that are backed up on the cloud are not.
If you feel that your WhatsApp messaged might be compromised if they are backed up on the cloud, you can disable the Cloud Backup option in WhatsApp by going to Settings>Chats>Chat Backup>Back up to Google Drive and select ‘Never‘. This ensures that WhatsApp will never automatically backup your WhatsApp chats on the cloud.
