Claude Code audit finds 214,856 "permanently deleted" photos lurking in Android hidden cache
Loo_Atreides · x · 2026-10-26
- Following his iPhone finding of 145,763 "permanently deleted" photos, the author plugged a Pixel into a MacBook and asked Claude Code to audit for leftover deleted files. It immediately flagged DCIM/.thumbnails, a folder he'd never opened, containing 215,000+ files — photos, videos, screenshots, all deleted between 2022 and 2025, most not listed in gallery trash or MediaStore.
- Sensitive items included a 2024 visa passport photo and bank app screenshots with full account numbers. Files deleted multiple times — even cleared from trash — remained in the hidden thumbnail cache, readable by any app with storage access.
- Reproducible approach: connect the phone to a computer and have Claude Code scan directories not indexed by MediaStore for deleted-file residue.
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