Learn how to enable end-to-end encrypted backups for WhatsApp to boost your security and keep your chat logs and media backups stored privately in the cloud.
How to turn on end-to-end encrypted backup for WhatsApp
Encryption
WhatsApp has begun testing end-to-end encrypted iCloud backups
The Facebook-owned WhatsApp messaging service is now testing end-to-end encryption for iCloud backups. The feature was designed to protect your chat archive while it's being uploaded to or downloaded from iCloud and stored on Apple's servers (at rest).
Your synced Safari bookmarks are now end-to-end encrypted [update: removed]
Apple has boosted the security and privacy of iCloud services further by switching end-to-end encryption for Safari bookmarks, preventing anyone but you from accessing them.
WhatsApp is working on password-protected encrypted iCloud backups
Your WhatsApp chats saved in iCloud could be read and shared with authorities when lawfully requested. That might change soon as the Facebook-owned messaging service has been working on a new privacy feature that would protect these iCloud backups with encryption.
WhatsApp publishes a FAQ to address privacy concerns relating to Facebook integration
WhatsApp's recent announcement of the new, required data sharing with Facebook has attracted government scrutiny in Turkey, provoked outrage on social media and earned the secure messaging app Signal lots of new users. But now, WhatsApp is firing back with a FAQ that's meant to assuage any privacy concerns that people may have been having lately.
Secure messaging app Telegram introduces end-to-end encrypted video calling
Secure messaging app Telegram has introduced video calling with end-to-end encryption that prevents eavesdropping, increasing pressure on Zoom, Apple's FaceTime and similar services.
iOS 13.4.1 may drop this week packing a host of patches, including one for a nasty VPN bug
According to a new report, Apple may release a small iOS 13.4.1 update later this week to squish a nasty bug on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch that has caused data and IP addresses in virtual private networks (VPN) to be exposed.
Editor’s Desk: Apple’s changing encryption story, patient data access
A news story at the beginning of the week shows a very changing position for Apple, which has focused for years on customer data access freedom and privacy but appears to have changed its tune when it comes to encryption. There's also news from the electronic medical records (EMR) industry, which may get shaken up this year thanks to new rules imposed by a federal government agency that oversees how medical records are maintained.
iMazing lets you perform truly secure encrypted local backups of iOS devices
Following the revealing report by Joseph Menn for Reuters alleging that the FBI “about two years ago” pressured Apple not to encrypt iOS device backups in iCloud, many iPhone users seem unhappy with this news. As an alternative, backing up your iOS device locally using iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC (or the Finder in macOS 10.15 Catalina) lets you retain ownership over your data versus having the contents of your device uploaded to iCloud.
Tim Cook in 2018: Apple may no longer have a key to iCloud data in the future
The explosive Reuters story alleging that the FBI a few years ago successfully pressured Apple into dropping plans to encrypt iOS device backups in iCloud has put a spotlight on an interview that Tim Cook gave to German newspaper Der Spiegel about a year ago, in which he hinted Apple might eventually no longer have an encryption key to iCloud data.
How worried should you be about Apple and end-to-end encryption?
A new report out today says that Apple has not implemented end to end encryption on iCloud backups at the behest of the FBI. Apple hasn't verified the report, but it has other reasons not to encrypt iCloud backups. In the end, I don't worry too much about the absence of end-to-end encryption in iCloud, because it's to my benefit. Let me explain.
Reuters: the FBI pressured Apple not to encrypt iCloud backups
Reuters today alleged Apple did bow to pressure from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which reportedly demanded that the Cupertino firm drop plans to roll out end-to-end encryption for iCloud device backups, claiming doing so would harm investigations.