WhatsApp turns down India's request to locate messages, but opens for Google

Do you want to backup your messages and media to Google Drive?

But, before you do that, pay heed to this cautionary message by WhatsApp: “Media and messages you back up are not protected by WhatsApp end-to-end encryption while in Google Drive.”

Recently, the Facebook-owned company signed a deal with Google to allow users to store data on its drive without affecting the 15 GB free space offered by Google. So far, the backup of WhatsApp’s data would eat up the free space offered by Google drive.

The shocking revelation comes when the chat platform recently turned down the Indian government demand to trace the origin of messages to curb the spread of fake messages.

In a response, after the govt had asked the messaging app to trace the origin of messages, Whatsapp spokesperson said that building traceability would undermine end-to-end encryption and the private nature of the chat platform, creating the potential for serious misuse. It will not weaken its privacy protections.

Last week, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad met WhatsApp CEO Chris Daniels and asked him to set up a corporate entity in India, appoint a grievance officer and find a technical solution to trace the origin of fake messages on its platform.

To fight the battle against the rising menace of fake information, the Central government has sent two notices to WhatsApp. It asked the messaging platform to immediately stop the spread of “irresponsible and explosive messages filled with rumours and provocation” through the application of appropriate technology.

WhatsApp, however, claims that it has taken various measures to allow its group being used for the wrongful purpose. In May, it launched new protection measures to prevent people from adding others back into groups which they had left.

The company had also said it plans to run long-term public safety ad campaigns in India and that it will publish new educational materials around misinformation and conduct news literacy workshops.

It also launched a digital literacy campaign last week and the forward message indicator to curb fake news, WhatsApp is working with fact-checkers and the local police.

The development was first reported by ET.