Apple fixes bug police used to extract deleted messages from iPhones
Notifications for deleted messages stayed on devices for up to a month. The FBI used this to recover deleted Signal messages.
What happened
On April 22, Apple released an update for iPhone and iPad fixing a significant bug: the content of notifications for deleted or disappearing messages was kept on the device for up to a month.
Apple's security notice said "notifications marked for deletion could be unexpectedly retained on the device."
Why it matters
According to 404 Media, the FBI used this to extract deleted Signal messages from iPhones.
Signal president Meredith Whittaker said: "Notifications for deleted messages shouldn't remain in any OS notification database."
What to do
- Update your iPhone.
- The fix was also backported to iOS 18.
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