Google Drive automatically compresses large files or groups of files before downloading, using the Zip file format. Zip supports both lossless and lossy compression algorithms, so my question is really about what compression algorithm Google Drive uses to zip files before download.
The reason I ask this is that, if the algorithm is lossless, then I will just download a bunch of files all at once, and then uncompress them on my local computer. However, if the compression is lossy, I will download the files one by one to avoid decreasing the file quality. I here mention my intention because I've concluded that it might help in answering the question better.