Apple on Wednesday released a software update for iPhones and iPads that fixes a bug that allowed law enforcement to automatically extract deleted or missing messages from messaging apps. This is because notifications that display message content were also cached on your device for up to a month.
In a security notice on its website, Apple said the bug means “notifications marked for deletion may unexpectedly persist on your device.”
This is a clear reference to an issue revealed by 404 Media earlier this month. Independent news outlets reported that the FBI was able to extract deleted Signal messages from someone's iPhone using forensic tools. This is due to the fact that even after the message was deleted within Signal, the content of the message was displayed in the notification and stored within the phone's database.
Following the news, Signal president Meredith Whitaker said the messaging app maker had asked Apple to address the issue. “Deleted message notifications should not remain in the OS notification database,” Whittaker wrote in a post on Bluesky.
Contact Us Want more information about how authorities are using forensic tools on your iPhone or Android device? You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely from your non-work device on Signal (+1 917 257 1382) or on Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb or by email.
It's unclear why the notification was recorded in the first place, but today's fix suggests it was a bug.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment asking why the notice was being retained. The company also backported the fix to iPhone and iPad owners running older iOS 18 software.
Privacy activists expressed alarm after learning that the FBI had found a way to bypass security features that at-risk users routinely use. Similar to other messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal allows users to set a timer to tell the app to automatically delete messages after a certain amount of time. This feature is useful for people who want to keep their conversations private in case authorities seize their device.
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