WhatsApp warns that Google Drive backups are not encrypted

I didn't realize this to be quite honest, and will probably be disabling my GDrive backups now.

That sucks. I would rather have it encrypted and be deducted from my usage quota than this. The extra protection would be worth it.

WhatsApp's data is no longer safe from government snooping. They just have to subpoena Google for a copy and as Google retain the encryption keys to your drive there is no real impediment.

What would their case be for not encrypting it?

I suspect WhatsApp not encrypting the backups was likely not a technical issue primarily, but a business one. Google gives free storage and can read all your chats on Drive to target advertising. Whatsapp gets free storage.

If you want to protect Google Drive properly, use an "at-rest' encryptor like VeraCrypt[0] or Syncdocs[1]

[0] https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html

[1] https://www.syncdocs.com/how-to-set-up-google-drive-encrypti...