🚨BREAKING NEWS : Your "deleted" photos aren't deleted.
Claude Code found years of them sitting in a hidden cache on my iPhone.
I plugged my iPhone into my MacBook to run a backup. I had Claude Code doing a security check at the same time. It flagged something I wasn't looking for. A directory called PhotoData/Thumbnails.
Thousands of files. Photos, videos, screenshots. A lot of them were things I had deleted.
Photos from a couple of years ago. Screenshots I took and deleted a few seconds later. Stuff I went into Recently Deleted and cleared. Some of it was still sitting there.
What I found in that cache:
- old screenshots of banking apps
- photos I deleted right after taking them
- random pictures I didn't want on my phone anymore
- a few things I specifically remember deleting more than once
When you delete a photo on iPhone, iOS removes it from your camera roll and Recently Deleted folder. But it keeps a compressed copy in a Spotlight search cache so your phone can still find things when you search. That cache doesn't get fully cleared.
I checked which apps had Files and Folders access. There were more than I expected, including apps I downloaded a long time ago and forgot about. Any of them could potentially read files from that cache.
I went through the list and removed access from most of them.
The prompt I used is below. It doesn't take long if you already have a backup.
How many apps on your phone have Files access right now?
Comedian Menachem Silverstein: “My name is Menachem and I support Israel.”
The audience: OK Bye
He might’ve just set a new world record for clearing a comedy club before the first punchline. 😂
رجل يدعى يوجينيو، جا يزور والده في مجمع سكني مغلق، لكن طلب منه الحارس صور اثباتات للوحة السيارة وهويتة الشخصية
يوجينيو لم يعجبه البروتوكول، ولانه محترف ومدرب ملاكمة، طبق مهاراته عليه
اغرب شي صمود الحارس ماتحرك ولا حتى طاح ووقف ولا كأن شي صار
ASLA UNUTMA!
İsrail askerlerinin doktor kılığına girerek Filistin hastanesine girip insanları öldürdüğünü asla unutmayın.
Bu terörizm ve savaş suçudur.
Ini la jadinya bila tak keje kontrak kat Malaysia dan gatal-gatal jadi influencer di Indonesia.....mula la berhalusinasi cakap Upin Ipin asal pada sana pulak....
Mamat ni muka kering aje mereka-reka cerita....