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

Claude Code found 145,763 photos I permanently deleted from my iPhone. Three years of deleted photos and videos still sitting in a hidden cache. Any app with file access can read them.

I plugged my iPhone into my MacBook to run a backup. Claude Code was doing the security audit from my last post and flagged a directory I wasn't even looking for. PhotoData/Thumbnails. Over 146,000 files. Photos, videos, screenshots.

Every single one was something I deleted. Photos from 2023, 2024 and 2025. The ones I deleted the second after taking them. The ones I cleared from Recently Deleted. The ones I deleted three separate times because I wanted to be sure they were gone. All still there.

What was still there

• Passport photo I took for a visa application in 2023.
• Screenshots of my bank app with full account numbers visible.
• Private photos I sent someone and immediately deleted after a breakup.
• Screenshot of my crypto seed phrase I took temporarily in 2022.
• Photo of my ID and credit card I took to remember the numbers and deleted 5 seconds later.
• Screenshots of my ex's private Instagram stories I saved and permanently deleted in 2023.

Some were full resolution. All organized by date going back to 2021.

Why it happens

When you delete a photo on iPhone, iOS removes it from your camera roll and Recently Deleted. It keeps a compressed copy in a Spotlight search index cache so your phone can find things when you search.

Apple never clears it. Not after 30 days. Not after a year. Never. They told you it was permanently deleted. It wasn't.

Who could access it

I checked which apps on my phone had Files and Folders access. 23 apps. Weather apps. QR code scanners. PDF readers. A flashlight app I downloaded in 2022. Any one of them could have been reading every photo I ever deleted this entire time.

Went from 23 apps to 3 in about two minutes. Full step by step below. Takes 2 minutes. Save it so you don't lose it and send it to anyone with an iPhone.