Researchers Discover a Year’s Worth of Deleted Safari History Stored on iCloud
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Security researchers at Elcomsoft, a Russian software company, recently discovered that Apple had been retaining a separate record of “cleared” Safari browsing history on iCloud, likely for the purpose of cross-device syncing. Since the report was issued, Apple now appears to be purging browsing data that is older than two weeks.
Speaking to Forbes, Elcomsoft CEO Vladimir Katalov explained that the iPhone maker had kept a separate record of users’ wiped viewing histories, dubbed “tombstone”. Katalov stated that he had found a hidden record of his own cleared browsing history on his iPhone using Elcomsoft’s Phone Breaker software. Forbes independently verified the claims, using Phone Breaker to retrieve 7,000 deleted records dating back to November 2015.
In a company press release announcing updates to Phone Breaker, Elcomsoft noted that Apple had kept “full information” on deleted Safari browsing history, including the date and time a website was accessed. The records also logged visit counts and the date and time of deletion.
“The user does not have a chance to see these records anywhere on their device or in the cloud, and may not have a clue they even exist,” Katalov said in the release.
While Apple has not released an official statement regarding the discovery, it’s quite possible that Apple’s “tombstone” records are not as sinister as they sound and solely exist for the purpose of synchronization across user devices. Deletion requests need to be stored in the cloud for some time so that they can be relayed to other devices that are powered down at the time browsing history is cleared.
“Overall, assuming this was a mistake, it’s a reminder that storing and retention of data is the default as a technical matter,” said ACLU analyst Jay Stanley to Forbes.
