New Apple iOS bug brings back deleted photos, including some unwelcome ones

Apple's latest iOS 17.5 update is doing something unexpected—bringing back deleted photos, including some NSFW content. Yes, you read that right. Photos that users thought were gone for good are making an unwelcome comeback.

Over on Reddit's r/iOS subreddit, users are sharing their surprise. One user was "thoroughly freaked out" to discover photos from 2021 that they believed had been permanently deleted. "I went to send a picture and saw that the latest pictures were NSFW material we'd made years ago," they posted. Another user chimed in, saying they had four pictures from 2010 that keep reappearing in iCloud despite multiple deletion attempts.

It's not an isolated issue. Another poster mentioned that a photo they took two years ago suddenly showed up at the top of their photos app. They regularly delete photos and transfer them to their PC, making this occurrence even stranger.

This unexpected restoration of old photos has raised serious privacy concerns. One Redditor questioned Apple's privacy advocacy, asking how users can trust the company if deleted files are not really deleted after so many years.

Business Today has reached out to Apple regarding the privacy concerns raised due the bug.

The iOS 17.5 update includes some lockscreen tweaks, bug fixes, and security updates, but this photo issue wasn't exactly on the feature list. For now, it might be wise to double-check your photo library and make sure no unwelcome surprises are lurking.