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Your private messages sent via Signal messaging app It may not be as hidden as you think – even if you delete the app. Reports by 404 Media This week it was found that the FBI was able to extract messages from inside a computer iPhoneNotifications system, long after a user has deleted the privacy-focused messaging app.
In July 2025, a group of people set off fireworks and vandalized property at the ICE Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, an incident that led to a police officer being shot in the neck and nine people being arrested and charged with domestic terrorism. It was revealed during the trial, 404 Media reported, that the FBI was able to extract private Signal messages, which were used as evidence, from an iPhone notification database.
An FBI special agent testified that Signal had already been removed from the phone when the FBI examined it. A witness to the testimony told 404 Media that the messages were supposed to disappear, which is what they are Application feature. The app successfully deleted the message, but the iPhone kept it.
This is important, because Signal Private Messenger is an encrypted messaging service, and messages sent through the service should not be visible if the app is deleted from the phone. The FBI was able to extract the data because the messages were displayed through the iPhone’s notification system, which saved those messages in the phone’s internal database.
Representatives for Signal, Apple and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The vulnerability represents a security concern for iPhone owners who assume their messages will remain private forever if they use an encrypted messaging service, and according to John Davison, deputy director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, there is no clear reason why these messages would still exist after deleting the app.
“A person who deletes a secure messaging app has a reasonable expectation that their messages will not remain indefinitely or be retrieved if the device falls into untrusted hands,” Davison told CNET in an email. “Apple owes it to the public to fix this issue, and developers should consider warning their users of the risks until that happens.”
All nine defendants in that trial were convicted in mid-March on charges ranging from aiding domestic terrorism to attempted murder.
You can prevent your iPhone from saving your messages by not allowing messages to appear in your notifications.
How to protect your privacy
Signal has a setting that prevents this issue from happening to others. You choose not to display any information in push notifications, so that if it is stored in your iPhone, the authorities will not be able to extract it later. If you really want your messages to disappear, this is the step you should take.
To do this, open the Signal app and follow the steps below. It should be the same on Android and iOS.
- Open Settings Menu and go to Notifications.
- Find where it says displays Change this setting to No name or message.
This is the whole process. Once you set this setting, you’ll still receive push notifications, but the notification won’t show who sent the message or what the message says. You’ll have to open the app each time to reply to messages, but this ensures that messages aren’t saved on your iPhone’s internal storage indefinitely, ready to be snatched up by an untrustworthy person.
“In our A guide to self-defense against surveillance“We advise users to check and change the settings of their secure messaging tools based on their security needs,” said Thorin Klosowski, security and privacy activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “Signal has the option to control what (if anything) appears in notifications, while for other apps, you may need to dive into notification settings in general,” he added.