--- title: Decrypting the Mystery: Why WhatsApp Encrypts Messages... description: WhatsApp uses encryption for messages to ensure conversations remain private, and hashing for passwords to store them securely without the need to retrieve the... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/decrypting-the-mystery-why-whatsapp-encrypts-messages-but-hashes-passwords-wk7oen9lo twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Decrypting the Mystery: Why WhatsApp Encrypts Messages but Hashes Passwords | daily.dev og:description: WhatsApp uses encryption for messages to ensure conversations remain private, and hashing for passwords to store them securely without the need to retrieve the... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/decrypting-the-mystery-why-whatsapp-encrypts-messages-but-hashes-passwords-wk7oen9lo og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/wK7OEn9LO.png og:image:alt: Decrypting the Mystery: Why WhatsApp Encrypts Messages but Hashes Passwords og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Decrypting the Mystery: Why WhatsApp Encrypts Messages but Hashes Passwords **[System Weakness](https://daily.dev/sources/systemweakness)** · 5 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary WhatsApp uses encryption for messages to ensure conversations remain private, and hashing for passwords to store them securely without the need to retrieve the original data. Encryption is a reversible process suitable for data requiring confidentiality and accessibility, while hashing is a one-way process ideal for data verification, such as password storage. The post explains why these methods are perfectly suited to their purposes and how they work in practice. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: --- Tags: [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security), [#encryption](https://daily.dev/tags/encryption), [#data-protection](https://daily.dev/tags/data-protection) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/decrypting-the-mystery-why-whatsapp-encrypts-messages-but-hashes-passwords-wk7oen9lo) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Decrypting the Mystery: Why WhatsApp Encrypts Messages but Hashes Passwords","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/decrypting-the-mystery-why-whatsapp-encrypts-messages-but-hashes-passwords-wk7oen9lo","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/decrypting-the-mystery-why-whatsapp-encrypts-messages-but-hashes-passwords-wk7oen9lo"},"datePublished":"2024-11-02T06:29:01.422Z","dateModified":"2024-12-12T08:56:07.405Z","description":"WhatsApp uses encryption for messages to ensure conversations remain private, and hashing for passwords to store them securely without the need to retrieve the...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/dcb438b16624b90f3f2d7592ccb21f5e?_a=AQAEuj9","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/dcb438b16624b90f3f2d7592ccb21f5e?_a=AQAEuj9","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"System Weakness","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"System Weakness","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/4675577b3a8145dab8e12f25b0751c15","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/systemweakness"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/decrypting-the-mystery-why-whatsapp-encrypts-messages-but-hashes-passwords-wk7oen9lo","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"security,encryption,data-protection","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"System Weakness","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/systemweakness"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Decrypting the Mystery: Why WhatsApp Encrypts Messages but Hashes Passwords"}]} ```