What's App/Google Drive (1 Viewer)

delia todd

If I said the wrong thing it was a Senior Moment

Staff member

Opus Editor

Supporter

• Jul 8, 2018

• #1

I've been using What's App as a messenger for the last year and find it quite handy, as I can use it both on my laptop and phone.

This morning though, I've received a message on my phone that I should....

"Back up your messages and media" ...... to Google Drive,

with options from Daily to Never.

In the message they say my messages are safe if I change or lose my phone.

However, they go on to say

"Media and messages you back up are not protected by WhatsApp end-to-end encryption while in Google Drive"

I don't understand what this means. I can't get rid of the message on my phone without selecting one of the options.

Can anyone advise please.

 

Pinewood

New York correspondent

• Jul 8, 2018

• #2

Hello Delia,

I do not use WhatsApp but this is very suspicious. As far as I know there is no corporate connection between WhatsApp and Google. In fact it WhatsApp is owned by Facebook. The safest thing may be to return your 'phone to its factory original settings, and then use a backup to restore.

Please wait for more advice.

Good luck,
Arthur :hi:

 

delia todd

If I said the wrong thing it was a Senior Moment

Staff member

Opus Editor

Supporter

• Jul 8, 2018

• #3

Thanks Arthur..... how are you doing lad?

 

Pinewood

New York correspondent

• Jul 8, 2018

• #4

delia todd said:

Thanks Arthur..... how are you doing lad?

Click to expand...

Hello Delia,

It has been a long time since anyone called me a lad. I am officially an OAP and doing quite well for an old geezer. My total walking for the day should be 8 km. My niece's husband, a hematologist, gave me a quick consultation and thought I was in great shape.
This is a slow bird watching season in New York but I go out, hoping to see something unusual.

Aside from computer problems, how are you doing?

Happy bird watching,
Arthur

 

delia todd

If I said the wrong thing it was a Senior Moment

Staff member

Opus Editor

Supporter

• Jul 8, 2018

• #5

Hi Arthur

LOL as a long-time OAP, I think I can call everyone 'lads' now! I'll get them right 99% of the time.

I'm not so bad thanks.... apart from arthritis.

 

H

hazelwood

Member

• Jul 23, 2018

• #6

delia todd said:

I've been using What's App as a messenger for the last year and find it quite handy, as I can use it both on my laptop and phone.

This morning though, I've received a message on my phone that I should....

"Back up your messages and media" ...... to Google Drive,

with options from Daily to Never.

In the message they say my messages are safe if I change or lose my phone.

However, they go on to say

"Media and messages you back up are not protected by WhatsApp end-to-end encryption while in Google Drive"

I don't understand what this means. I can't get rid of the message on my phone without selecting one of the options.

Can anyone advise please.

Click to expand...

What it means is you can store a copy of your WhatsApp dialogue in Google's Drive (cloud storage) but in that location it will not be protected or encrypted by WhatsApp's native algorithms. Thus, depending on Google's Drive policy the data might or might not at best, be parsed for anonymous user profiling. If the data is not parsed at all, it is still more vulnerable.

My advice would be to choose not to back up your WhatsApp 'conversations' unless they are critical records that you cannot afford to loose. If your conversations are held on both phone and laptop/pc then you already have a backup anyway....

 

Last edited: Jul 23, 2018

delia todd

If I said the wrong thing it was a Senior Moment

Staff member

Opus Editor

Supporter

• Jul 23, 2018

• #7

Thanks so much hazelwood.

It's nice to have it all explained.... and a bit of a relief to know that I didn't do the wrong thing in selecting "never" LOL

 

H

hazelwood

Member

• Jul 23, 2018

• #8

You're welcome :t:

(Always best to be cautious)