FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
bjord
63 points
21 comments
April 09, 2026
Related Discussions
Found 5 related stories in 54.2ms across 4,075 title embeddings via pgvector HNSW
- Possible US Government iPhone-Hacking Toolkit in foreign spy and criminal hands alwillis · 212 pts · March 03, 2026 · 53% similar
- FBI stymied by Apple's Lockdown Mode after seizing journalist's iPhone alwillis · 15 pts · March 04, 2026 · 52% similar
- Apple Gives FBI a User's Real Name Hidden Behind 'Hide My Email' Feature cdrnsf · 15 pts · March 26, 2026 · 50% similar
- Someone has publicly leaked an exploit kit that can hack iPhones moose44 · 19 pts · March 23, 2026 · 48% similar
- Hundreds of Millions of iPhones Can Be Hacked With a New Tool Found in the Wild WalterSobchak · 115 pts · March 18, 2026 · 47% similar
Discussion Highlights (8 comments)
meithecatte
Perhaps Signal should force the notification settings to "don't show the content" when disappearing messages are enabled in a particular chat?
LocalH
Sounds like Apple needs to start flushing that database regularly, at least by option. Perhaps as part of Lockdown Mode?
tchalla
Can someone explain why notification databases are stored for a long period of time? The article is behind a paywall.
Cider9986
https://archive.ph/bSQhD
SomaticPirate
This is well known in the op-sec communities. iOS and Android notifications route through their servers and can be stored indefinitely (ie especially under a court order) You need to disable the content previews if you want to be secure. But even the notification metadata can be quite valuable to law enforcement (who is messaging you, what time of day, etc.) Also standard requirement on govt mobile devices to disable notifications. Mattermost provides this option at the server level to block notifications entirely for ios/android devices.
eviks
> Signal had been removed, but incoming notifications were preserved in internal memory Why are app notifications not part of app data that gets deleted on uninstall???
Cider9986
I think that https://molly.im/ is better than Signal Android.
skydv2
So we are talking about that any police with a cable can read ALL my past notifications, WhatsApp, Telegram, all banks? Like indefinitely in the past? And there is no way to flush the database? Wow thanks Apple.