iPhone, WhatsApp, iCloud & encryption. confusing !

[avmsam]

it's 2023 and we got more encryption options.

WhatsApp has encryption in the app itself.

normal iCloud backup doesn't.

iCloud advanced data protection does have iCloud backup encryption.

i've articles like this one say that if you turn on WhatsApp encrpyiont then turn off iCloud backup for WhatsApp:

How to turn on end-to-end encrypted backup for WhatsApp

Follow these steps to enable end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp backup to boost security by keeping your chat logs and media in the cloud private.

www.idownloadblog.com

so this confuses me. if WhatsApp encryption is on and iCloud backup for WhatsApp is off then where does WhatsApp get backed up then, to whatsapp's own servers ?

what if you have icloud advanced data protection turned on, then no need for WhatsApp encryption ? and what if both are turned on ? is it double backing up and double encrypting ?

edit: i've gotten some clarity that if you have backup turned on in WhatsApp app settings AND iCloud device backup then yes you are backing up twice. still haven't gotten any info on the encryption part.

 

[BigMcGuire]

it's 2023 and we got more encryption options.

WhatsApp has encryption in the app itself.

normal iCloud backup doesn't.

iCloud advanced data protection does have iCloud backup encryption.

i've articles like this one say that if you turn on WhatsApp encrpyiont then turn off iCloud backup for WhatsApp:

How to turn on end-to-end encrypted backup for WhatsApp

Follow these steps to enable end-to-end encrypted WhatsApp backup to boost security by keeping your chat logs and media in the cloud private.

www.idownloadblog.com

so this confuses me. if WhatsApp encryption is on and iCloud backup for WhatsApp is off then where does WhatsApp get backed up then, to whatsapp's own servers ?

what if you have icloud advanced data protection turned on, then no need for WhatsApp encryption ? and what if both are turned on ? is it double backing up and double encrypting ?

Yep, so the WhatsApp application will encrypt its backups in Google Drive / iCloud Backup. It's still backing up to another source, just encrypting it when backing it up.

The source - iCloud Backup - is encrypted at rest end to end if you turn on Advanced Data Protection.


Picture XYZ application running on your Mac. You can choose to have that app encrypt its own data on your Mac's hard drive. You can also choose to encrypt your Mac's hard drive. So you can do both. You can have the app encrypt its own data, and your Mac encrypt its hard drive. So it's just double encryption.

A lot of times when people get "hacked" or have data loss it's when they're logged in using their computer so having an app encrypt its own data (despite being on a drive that is encrypted) is an extra level of security.

Hope this helps.

 

[avmsam]

based on responses here and elsewhere and more research in general i think i get it now. i'll explain and we'll see if others can confirm or correct me:

WhatsApp app itself does encryption and backing up and then iOS does it separately as well. so if both WhatsApp backup is turned on in the whatsapp app settings and WhatsApp is selected in iOS device backup then yes there is double backing up which both reside in iCloud and will take up twice as much iCloud storage.

WhatsApp app controls its own backup & encryption but uses iCloud to store it. so if encryption is turned on in WhatsApp settings then it encrypts it and puts in iCloud and WhatsApp manages this based on the settings in the whatsapp app settings.

iOS does it via the iCloud device backup. if WhatsApp is checked off in the device backup then iOS will backup your chats too. by default this is unencrypted but if you turn on iCloud advanced data protection then iOS will encrypt it.

 

[karlcrazyman]

Regarding WhatsApp encryption and iCloud backup, if you turn on end-to-end encryption for WhatsApp, the chat logs and media will still be backed up to iCloud, but they will be encrypted. If you turn off iCloud backup for WhatsApp, the chat logs and media will be stored only on WhatsApp's own servers and will be encrypted. So, in this case, WhatsApp's own servers will be used for backup.

If you have iCloud Advanced Data Protection turned on, it will encrypt the data in your iCloud backup, including WhatsApp data, so there is no need to turn on WhatsApp encryption if you have this feature enabled. However, if you want an additional layer of encryption for your WhatsApp data, you can still turn on WhatsApp encryption even if you have iCloud Advanced Data Protection turned on.

Regarding double backup and double encryption, if you have both WhatsApp backup and iCloud backup turned on, you are backing up your data twice. However, the data will be encrypted twice as well, so there is no harm in doing so.

 

[Jacob Anthony Underwood]

In noted that when I switched WhatsApp backup encryption in and off my iCloud back up size goes way down. Then I noticed the circled message in the attached screenshot. It looks like when you enable e2e encryption in WhatsApp back up it automatically disable it from being included as part of your device backup. I’m still trying to decide what’s better including it in my e2e iclound device backup or enabling in WhatsApp