Twitter is secretly holding onto deleted direct messages

Twitter says it doesn't keep hold of private messages for more than 30 days after an account is deactivated

Security researcher warns direct messages on Twitter may not be deleted completely (Getty Images)

Twitter seems to be secretly keeping hold of direct messages between users long after they were deleted, a security researcher has discovered.

Delhi-based researcher Karan Saini discovered long-ago deleted messages when he downloaded an archive of his data from Twitter, including messages sent to accounts that have since been deactivated.

"DMs are never 'deleted' – rather only witheld from appearing in the UI," Saini wrote on Twitter. "The archive geature lets you view these DMs, as well as any others with now suspended, or deactivated users."

In a follow-up tweet, he added: "I submitted the report for this to Twitter in January of 2018, and at the time, the team accepted the residual implications of the issue."

The issue raises serious privacy concerns for Twitter users, though Mr Saini noted that it is not a security flaw, rather a "functional bug".

Twitter's privacy policy states that anyone who deactivates their account will have their data deleted after a 30-day grace period.

"For up to 30 days after deactivation it is still possible to restore your Twitter account if it was accidentally or wrongfully deactivated," the policy states.

Twitter's terms state that log data – which includes information like IP address, browser type and operating system – is kept for a maximum of 18 months, though this does not encompass private data like direct messages.

A Twitter spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

A statement provided to TechCrunch, who first reported the story, said the firm was "looking into this further to ensure we have considered the entire scope of the issue."