Perhaps Signal should force the notification settings to "don't show the content" when disappearing messages are enabled in a particular chat?
On IOS 26.3.1 - settings > notifications > signal
Show previews is set to Never (Default).
FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
21–30 of 32 posts
Re: FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
#22Can someone explain why notification databases are stored for a long period of time? The article is behind a paywall.
I presume it's from here: > Notification Center shows your notifications history, allowing you to scroll back and see what you've missed. https://support.apple.com/en-ca/108781 Note that although Android has a similar "notification history" feature, it's disabled by default and requires opt-in.
Why would it keep the notification history after they’ve been dismissed, though? There’s no user-facing way (that I’m aware of) to access a history of dismissed notifications.
Re: FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
#23So 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.
Re: FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
The article is specifically not referring to information that's sent to Apple servers - it's about information on the phone only, accessible through forensics tools with physical device access. Signal's server-side push notifications only contain a "wakeup" message. The actual message popup is displayed after decrypting the message contents locally on the device. Of the things you mentioned, only the time of notifica…
Fun fact, apps can't wake from APNS if the user killed the app (swipe up) last time instead of switching away normally. Apple publicly said something contrary to this at one point, so it might be surprising that Signal can work this way. The notification itself will still come through outside the app, so I wonder what you see, probably some placeholder text?
Yes there's a placeholder in that scenario
Something like 'new message available' if I remember correctly (I'm no longer on iPhone, so can't verify)
Re: FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
#25This 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…
You're thread-sliding, friend, and trying to diminish the major blow-up here. ALL notifications from banks, WhatsApp, Telegram you name it are stored indefinitely, and anyone with physical access to the phone and a cable can extract your entire history. This is NOT the same as them being stored at Apple or the NSA. Any shithead with a cable can do it.
Re: FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
#26[dead]
Re: FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
#27I think that https://molly.im/ is better than Signal Android.
I agree, especially in this context. Allows you to avoid the insecure Google push notifications and keeps the proprietary Signal client more honest to prefer a community implementation of the protocol. It also lets you lock down your on-device data with an additional encryption layer.
Re: FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
#28This 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…
*Google notifications, not all Android. Unified Push combined with a degoogled ROM works great to have convenience and security.
Re: FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
#29So 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.
Not that this makes it ok, but they still have to break into the phone's encryption, right? Idk, article is paywalled
Re: FBI Extracted Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I presume it's from here: > Notification Center shows your notifications history, allowing you to scroll back and see what you've missed. https://support.apple.com/en-ca/108781 Note that although Android has a similar "notification history" feature, it's disabled by default and requires opt-in.
Why would it keep the notification history after they’ve been dismissed, though? There’s no user-facing way (that I’m aware of) to access a history of dismissed notifications.
Does it, or did the defendant just not dismiss them? Maybe if you delete the app, the notifications aren't dismissed.