WhatsApp just changed your chat world; turn it on now, here is how to

WhatsApp may have fallen into the bad habit of doing the wrong thing, first there was the privacy controversy, then the recent crash, but it has also managed to do something positive - it may have just changed your chat world forever. The change was big enough for the company to march out Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to make the announcement to everyone. Fittingly so, considering that he had to come out and say sorry for the recent outage that hit WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and more. 

Zuckerberg has announced on Thursday that WhatsApp has started rolling out end-to-end encrypted chat backups globally. This applies to all smartphone users, whether they are on Android or iOS.

What that means is that WhatsApp chats of all users get a 360 degree protection. Till now, Whatsapp chats were end-to-end encrypted while sending, delivering or in transit. However, they were not protected if they were backed onto Google Drive or other such options. The new WhatsApp feature will enable an extra layer of protection on both iCloud and Google Drive accounts. However, it will not happen automatically. It is very much optional.

“In rolling this out, we have completed the final step in providing a full end-to-end encrypted messaging experience," WhatsApp said.

How to get WhatsApp end-to-end encrypted backup

“You can now secure your end-to-end encrypted backup with either a password of your choice or a 64-digit encryption key that only you know. Neither WhatsApp nor your backup service provider will be able to read your backups or access the key required to unlock it," WhatsApp explained.

The WhatsApp process is quite simple and can be done in a few clicks:

* Go to Settings tab.

* Click on Chats > Chat Backup > End-to-end Encrypted Backup.

* Click continue, and create a password or key.

However, pay heed during the process and note down your password or key carefully. if you forget, then your data is lost.

Those who have turned it on, but don't want to continue can go back to the old system. They can turn off the encrypted backup. Here is how to turn off WhatsApp end-to-end encrypted backup:

* Go to settings.

* Click on Chats > Chat Backup > End-to-end Encrypted Backup.

* Click on Turn Off.

* Provide password.