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Claude Code found 145K photos I deleted from my iPhone sitting in a hidden cache

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A user claims that, while reviewing an iPhone backup with Claude Code, they found 145,763 images and videos in a PhotoData/Thumbnails directory, including items they had removed from both the camera roll and Recently Deleted. They say the files dated back to 2021 and included highly sensitive material such as passport and ID photos, bank-account screenshots, a crypto seed phrase, and private images. The user attributes the files’ persistence to an iOS Spotlight search cache, arguing that deleted photos may remain there indefinitely in compressed form. They warn that apps with Files and Folders access could potentially reach the material, report reducing that access from 23 apps to three, and offer a prompt for scanning a backup for lingering image files.

The post presents the discovery as evidence that deleting photos on an iPhone may not erase every copy, but its technical explanation and claims are disputed in the supplied discussion. One commenter argues that accessing such data would require a difficult jailbreak or security bypass, says Claude Code cannot access an iPhone directly, and characterizes the video as a jailbreak demonstration rather than proof of an ordinary iPhone backup exposing deleted photos. The central issue is therefore both privacy-related and technical: whether the files were actually recoverable deleted photos in a normal backup, or artifacts exposed through a modified device or other special access.

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