Signal Messages (iOS) Are Not Disappearing Due To a Bug
- A bug has been reported in one of the most popular messaging applications, Signal. Messages that were supposed to have vanished within seconds are showing up for days and weeks.
- Signal is used by a large group of activists, security researchers, journalists, and sources who want to leave no traces behind.
- Supposedly, the bug is reported only for the iOS version and is expected to be resolved in the future update.
Let’s be clear about one thing, anonymous and secure chat apps are also prone to vulnerabilities. Typically, these applications are best suited for those users who require high-end privacy and want to leave no traces behind. Signal offers something similar to users who want to exchange encrypted text messages for free without having to worry about keeping them saved. The chat app has an option that automatically deletes messages after a certain time. However, lately, it is doing the opposite of what it is supposed to do.
According to the latest reports, deleted messages in Signal are not actually deleted. This is worrying for the likes of journalists and sources who always want to stay behind the scenes. It is revealed that the communication between parties is not disappearing ‘long after they were scheduled to vanish.’
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The report stated that this is due to a bug that is malfunctioning. It is believed that some people could see numerous messages ‘lingering’ on for days and weeks after they were set to expire within a few seconds.
Due to numerous privacy-oriented features, a lot of people started relying on Signal and preferred it over other alternate options such as WhatsApp, WeChat, and Telegram. This is especially important today when Telegram is facing bans across the world. Upon asking, the founder of the service, Moxie Marlinspike, said that the issue came when the latest iOS update of Signal was rolled out on May 22. He further added that all of the messages that are still showing up will be deleted in a future update.