Messages you send privately via the Signal app may not be as concealed as you believe — even after deleting the app. This week, 404 Media reported that the FBI successfully retrieved messages from an iPhone’s notification system long after the user deleted the privacy-oriented messaging app. In July 2025, individuals launched fireworks and damaged property at the ICE Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas—an event that left one police officer shot in the neck and led to nine arrests and domestic terrorism charges. 404 Media reported that during the trial, it came to light the FBI extracted Signal private messages from an iPhone’s notification database, using them as evidence. An FBI special agent testified that the Signal app had already been deleted from the phone when they examined it. A witness who observed the testimony informed 404 Media that the messages were configured to auto-delete, a built-in feature of the app. The app deleted the message successfully, but the iPhone retained it. This matters significantly because Signal Private Messenger is an encrypted messaging service, and messages sent via it should not remain visible after the app is removed from the phone. The FBI accessed the data because the messages appeared via the iPhone’s notification system, which stored them in the phone’s internal database. Representatives from Signal, Apple, and the FBI did not immediately reply to comment requests. This vulnerability raises security issues for iPhone users who believe encrypted messaging apps keep their conversations permanently private, and John Davisson, deputy director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, sees no justification for those messages lingering after the app’s deletion. “A person deleting a secure messaging app reasonably expects their messages won’t persist forever or remain recoverable if the device ends up in untrusted hands,” Davisson emailed CNET. Apple has a duty to the public to resolve this issue, and developers ought to alert their users to the danger in the meantime. In mid-March, all nine defendants in the trial were convicted on charges that included aiding domestic terrorism and attempted murder. Enlarge Image Prevent your iPhone from storing your messages by disabling their display in notifications.
