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WTF?! In a rather unsettling turn of events for iPhone users, reports have emerged claiming that photos previously deleted years ago are mysteriously reappearing on devices after the recent iOS 17.5 software update. While the issue doesn’t seem to be widespread, the complaints have sparked some concerns over data privacy practices.
The first murmurs of this phenomenon surfaced on Reddit, with multiple users sharing their bewilderment at finding long-deleted images marked as recently added in the Photos app. One user’s account was particularly disconcerting, recounting how explicit personal photos from years prior had resurfaced unexpectedly during a conversation with their partner.
“When in conversation with my partner, I went to send a picture and saw that the latest pictures were NSFW material we’d made years ago when we were living apart. It was permanently deleted years ago, but magically it’s back? I checked my iPad and it also has pictures (some art work I did years ago). I feel so uncomfortable,” they wrote.
Another Redditor had to deal with four pictures more than a decade old that kept making unwelcome comebacks, despite having deleted them repeatedly over the years.
Complaints aren’t limited to just photos, with one person on Twitter claiming old voicemails have also made an unwelcome return post-update.
After upgrading to iOS 17.5 on my Xr, voicemails that I had already listened to or deleted reappeared. Before the update, I had only one unheard voicemail, but now I have 26. pic.twitter.com/eqx1buJIx0
– Stacey (@ssmithdev) May 15, 2024
Theories are popping up about what could be causing all this, with most centering around the idea that deleted files aren’t truly eradicated from iOS devices or iCloud storage. One notion suggests that the act of deleting a file doesn’t actually destroy the data. Instead, it simply marks the storage space as reusable, allowing new files to overwrite the old ones gradually. The other one is that Apple retained user photos and other media long-term in iCloud storage, with iOS 17.5 somehow triggering their reappearance on synced devices.
Some have also speculated that Apple’s attempt to fix a photo syncing bug from iOS 17.3 may have inadvertently caused this issue. Interestingly, users running iOS 17.5 developer beta 4 had reported similar problems, which seemingly went unaddressed before the public release.
This isn’t the first time iCloud has found itself in hot water over data retention practices. Back in 2017, a glitch was patched that allowed user browser history to linger in iCloud for up to a year after deletion.
While Apple has yet to officially acknowledge or comment on the recent photo resurrection reports, the company may need to provide some clarity soon. After all, users entrust Apple with their personal data, and any suggestion of improper data handling could severely undermine that trust.
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