Yet another way to retrieve deleted Snapchat photos

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:26:00 +0000

It’s becoming an almost daily ritual to hear about another way Snapchat does not actually delete photos or videos, but here’s a new one: Dumpster, a new Android app used a digital trashcan, like the one on your computer, can actually retrieve Snapchat videos.

Is anyone surprised?

Dumpster is good for saving files you accidentally delete off your Android phone—as a backup service. About a month ago, the app’s CEO Alik Hochner found that Dumpster was storing “deleted” Snapchat videos too. Hocher told Digital Trends that Snapchat was saving temporary videos on the Android SD card, and that Dumpster isn’t able to also retrieve photos because they're saved on the phone’s internal storage.

Snapchat is secretly storing your photos

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:47:00 +0000

We all knew it was too good to be true. Snapchat, the photo-texting app designed to delete your pictures soon after they’re received, is supposed to be a completely safe way to send naughty pics to your significant other without consequences.

But for $300 to $500, you could retain any photos a person has sent you. Want your sexy snapchats back? Just call Richard Hickman, of Utah security firm Decipher Forensics, who says he can get back the photos in just six hours.

That’s because the photos remain stored deep inside Android smartphones—in a folder called RECEIVED_IMAGES_SNAPS. Rather than deleting the files, Snapchat actually just turns them into reusable data with a .NOMEDIA extension, which makes the photos invisible to most people. But do a bit of forensic research and voila! The pictures are viewable once again.

The photos can then be passed on to parents, lawyers, revenge-porn sites and the police.

Salon.com > Gaby Dunn

Yet another way to retrieve deleted Snapchat photos

Snapchat is secretly storing your photos