WhatsApp End-to-End Encryption: What it is and How to Use it

WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encryption in their mobile and web version. The WhatsApp end-to-end encryption ensures that the user chats, images, documents, and videos all are secured. And no one other than the authorized user can see them.

More than 40% of the people around the world are using WhatsApp as their prime messaging application. It is a brilliant application for communicating with people present anywhere around the world. Users can send messages, images, videos, documents, and much more over the channel. WhatsApp also provides the feature of voice call and video call to its users. In short, the WhatsApp application and WhatsApp Web and is a complete communication solution for daily routine.

However, there came a lot of cases where hackers on the internet illegally gained access to the private chats of WhatsApp users. The hackers then used personal information such as chats, images, videos, and documents to blackmail WhatsApp users in different ways to gain profits.

To get rid of this situation, WhatsApp introduced end-to-end encryption in the mobile and WhatsApp Web version. The WhatsApp end to end encryption ensures that the user chats, images, documents, and videos all are secured. And no one other than the authorized user can see them.

What is WhatsApp End-to-End Encryption?

WhatsApp's encryption method is a unique system in which the total communication is shut between the two parties. Only the parties involved in the conversation will be able to see the chat. No third party could access your information. Whether it is a government agency or a hacker, if end-to-end encryption is enabled, the communication contents will not be visible to anyone else.

Back in 2016, WhatsApp introduced this amazing feature, which secures the conversation between the users. The end-to-end encryption not only ensures the security of the chats between the sender and the receiver it also keeps secret the photos, videos, and documents sent over it. Moreover, WhatsApp also supports end to end voice call and video call encryption.

WhatsApp makes use of a strong encryption policy. WhatsApp encrypts the messages of the sender by a unique key. The key to decrypt those messages is only with the receiver. In this way, the only authorized user will be the receiver. And he will be able to see the messages sent by the sender over the WhatsApp application on a mobile phone or Web WhatsApp.

For what purpose is WhatsApp's End-to-End encryption used?

WhatsApp end to end encryption is a necessity in today's era to secure your conversations from eavesdroppers. It helps to protect the following from getting into the wrong hands.

1. Personal messages
2. Business messages
3. Payments

How to verify if your Chats are end to end encrypted or not?

WhatsApp application is encrypting all the conversations of its users. Yet, if some user wants to verify if his chat is an end to end encrypted or not, he can follow these simple steps.

1. Open WhatsApp from your mobile phone, or you can open it using Web WhatsApp.
2. Open the conversation of any person.
3. Tap on the name of that contact so that you can check out the contact information.
4. In the contact info, there is an option of Encryption. Click on that option.
5. A new page will open up. On this page, you will see a QR code and a 60-digit code.
6. To verify that the chat with the specific person is an end to end, encrypted, you can take two ways. Firstly, you can match the 60 digits appearing on your phone and the other person's phone. Or you can scan the QR code on your mobile from the mobile of the other person. As soon as the QR code matches, a green checkmark will appear on the screen indicating that the chat is end to end encrypted.
7. In case the codes do not match or scanning does not show a green checkmark, it is most probable that you are scanning a QR or a wrong phone number.

In short, WhatsApp is a well-secured app for all its users.