Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was reportedly able to recover deleted Signal messages from an iPhone, raising fresh concerns about user privacy and how secure messaging apps really are. According to a report by 404 Media, investigators accessed messages even after the Signal app had been deleted from the device. The messages were not retrieved directly from the app, but from the iPhone’s push notification database, which continued to store incoming message content. While authorities could not access messages sent by the user, they were able to view incoming messages from conversations.
FBI recovers messages from deleted Signal app
According to 404 Media, testimony in a recent trial involving a group accused of setting off fireworks and damaging property at an ICE detention facility in Texas showed that the FBI was able to recover incoming Signal messages from a defendant’s iPhone, even though the Signal app had already been deleted from the device.The report adds that one of the defendants was Lynette Sharp, who had earlier pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists. During the trial, FBI Special Agent Clark Wiethorn spoke about the evidence collected.A summary of the evidence cited in the report said that messages were recovered from Sharp’s phone through Apple’s internal notification storage. Even though Signal had been removed, incoming message notifications were still saved in the phone’s internal memory. The report also noted that only incoming messages were recovered, while outgoing messages were not accessible.
How messages were accessed despite deletion
The report suggests that even though Signal offers end-to-end encryption, message previews stored in notifications can still be accessed under certain conditions. This means deleting the app doesn’t completely erase all evidence of user conversations. Even after the app’s removal, notifications that include message content persist on the device.The problem, it seems, isn’t just a Signal thing. It could potentially impact other messaging apps that display message previews in their notifications, reports suggest.
How to turn off Apple iPhone setting to protect your messages
Apple iPhone users can reduce this risk by changing notification settings within Signal. To do this:
- Open Signal and go to Settings
- Select Notification Content
- Choose “No Name or Content” for maximum privacy, or “No Content”
Disabling notification previews ensures that message content is not stored in the phone’s notification system, making it harder to access.