Mail that you deleted a couple of years ago can still be stored on your smartphone

Yesterday I found on my brand new smartphone, which I use only about a month, several files that I had seen only once before, and then two years ago. Then I deleted them meet. At least it seemed to me to meet. But in reality it turned out differently ...

If you live in Central Russia, then probably, like me, you periodically take pictures of these magical rainbows and sunsets, which, apparently, we got as compensation for COVID. Yesterday I decided to transfer my masterpieces from phone to laptop to make sure that these are really masterpieces. For the phone is new, and it is not clear how high-quality pictures it takes, because on the screen of the phone itself, the pictures always look like it's the cover of a glossy magazine.

I connected the phone to my laptop. I chose the option “Transfer images” on the phone, and on the laptop - “Import pictures and videos” ...Further, the application for importing images counted almost 1,500 images and vidos on my phone, although I myself took only about 80 pictures. Mentally threw a stone into the garden of Samsung, which produced my new smartphone. Because my previous smartphone on bare Android in the "Image Transfer" mode allowed me to detect photos and videos only from the main photo album. To get all the pictures from all the folders, you had to select the “File Transfer” mode on the phone. So it was with the old phone. And my new device, as it turned out, in both modes transmits all the pictures and vidos that are on it. “Well, okay,” I decided. - “I'll see at least what trash managed to pump my smartphone out of nowhere.” When the transfer of files to the laptop was over, I sat down to patiently view them. Basically, there was rubbish from messengers.But at some point I froze in surprise. Because I saw pictures that I had looked at only once before, and two years ago. “Probably some kind of icons,” I thought. But no, the files had a full size of a few megabytes per file. These were the original full-size images. They once came to me by e-mail to the mailbox registered on Mail.ru. These data were quite sensitive. I do not store such data in the mail. Therefore, he immediately deleted the letter in which these pictures were attached.registered on Mail.ru. These data were quite sensitive. I do not store such data in the mail. Therefore, he immediately deleted the letter in which these pictures were attached.registered on Mail.ru. These data were quite sensitive. I do not store such data in the mail. Therefore, he immediately deleted the letter in which these pictures were attached.

But what do they do on my new smartphone, which was not even produced two years ago? I searched the folders of the phone. It turned out that sensitive photos are in the directory where the Mail.ru Mail application data is cached. Yeah, still Mail.ru. If there would be some other source, I would be very surprised. It is good that at least in this place magic did not happen. Just in case, I searched my mailbox at Mail.ru. I was convinced that the letter removed two years ago was not there.

Such a funny story. I am far from developing for mobile phones. I don’t even know if Android applications have full control over their own cache. And I did not read user agreements for Android and Mail.ru mail. With all this in mind, I just as an ordinary user had the following - perhaps naive - questions.

1. ? Google- Mail.ru? , , . , Mail.ru , . , . , , — , Mail.ru - . , -
2. «» ? , . , , , , . . - , ? , , , , . , «»
3. « Mail.ru», ? , , , , , . , , . — . , . , . , ,
4. , / . - ,

It would be interesting to hear opinions on these issues.

I’ll add on my own that client-side caching, in principle, makes me mixed feelings. On the one hand, this is a super-useful optimization, on the other hand, the cache allows you to access application data bypassing authorization in the application itself. It is enough to go through or bypass authorization on the device. It is possible that for sensitive data you just need to use other applications, for example, HIPAA-compliant. But on a purely domestic level, it’s pretty hard to realize all the possible consequences of caching. For example, did I expect that as a result of importing photos, someone else's medical data would appear on my computer that I honestly deleted two years ago? Of course not.

All success and do not forget to periodically clean the cache, because in theory it can substitute you in some unexpected way. For example, you completed some reprehensible affair a couple of years ago, deleted all letters from your mistress, and since then - a decent family man. A new life has begun. And then, together with his wife, on a cold winter evening, they decided to import warm summer photos from their phone. We went to daddy on the laptop, and here on you - greetings from a long-forgotten mistress. Take care of yourself!

UPD. The previous phone was not Samsung. I do not use external memory cards. Only contacts and application settings are backed up to the cloud. All other backups have always been disabled. In particular, the photo album is not copied to the cloud, nor is the application data. For example, instant messengers recovered without a chat history. All that was done after buying a new phone was logging in to your Google account and activating the option to restore settings from the cloud.