Apple literally cannot win in the media and the current security narrative. If they could/would remotely unlock or reset passwords people would freak out about lax security you could get around by purely faking a written and signed letter.
This sucks but is all this heartbreak and fighting with a company worth a 500 dollar toy? This whole thing is ridiculous.
This sucks but is all this heartbreak and fighting with a company worth a 500 dollar toy?
You do understand that some people have to work full time for several months to save enough to buy that kind of "toy", right? Maybe you're lucky enough to be more wealthy than that, but many aren't. Not that the amount of money involved is even slightly the point here anyway.
In the US, a judge would likely have ordered Apple to unlock the device and then made them pay the estate's legal fees, since most states actually have laws requiring service providers (such as banks) to give the estate access to a decedent's property upon confirmed proof of death (i.e., a certified copy of the death certificate).
These US laws are generally based on UK estate laws, so it is highly unlikely that a court order would be required in the UK.
Really, for a multi-billion dollar with billions of dollars in profit each quarter, Apple's inability or unwillingness to perform an hour or two of basic legal research is shocking, especiallly considering that they are effectively demanding that the estate pay 500 pounds for access to a toy that likely cost 500 pounds.
When my friend who is only 29 now developed a blood clot two years ago (thankfully surgery went fine but the chances weren't good according to the doctor going in); I set up a password protected encrypted disc image with all my login details (1Password), monitary asset information (iBank), contact details (Address book + txt file), instructions for dealing with employer, insurance stuff (life, home, accident), etc that's on a USB stick in my flat and synced to my parents computer via SFTP every month or so.
That way they can get any information they need easily if something were to happen to me by unlocking the disk image with the password they have.
Obviously out of the scope for most people (including article's subject) to set up but a good idea for those of us who are technologically inclined IMO (others may disagree, if so I'd love to hear why).
It sounds reasonable to me. They have provided evidence that the woman has died, and that she left an iPad. Apple is asking for a legal declaration that it is this iPad and this iTunes account.
"We've provided the death certificate, will and solicitor's letter but it wasn't enough. They've now asked for a court order to prove that mum was the owner of the iPad and the iTunes account.
The survivors are balking at the £200/hr for the solicitor to make that happen.
So it appears there is a path for an executor to gain control of an iTunes account and iOS devices, but it requires a legal verification from the courts. Anything less would be open to abuse.
Note to self: make a mechanism for my survivors to unlock my keychain, because that is really going to suck for them in my case.
It's hard for me to want to blame Apple for this. The fact of the matter is, they should not have lost those security tokens.
I'm getting pretty sick of the externalities of people's unwillingness to manage their information. You lose your password, you lose your device, unless you know how to hack it or can pay someone to do it. If it costs you more to recover your device than it's worth, tough shit. That password is designed to keep people who don't know it out. Don't lose track of it.
You lose your password, you lose your device, unless you know how to hack it or can pay someone to do it. If it costs you more to recover your device than it's worth, tough shit.
That's fair enough, as long as you also prominently advertise the fact that ever forgetting that password will render your device worthless, so that everyone is fully aware of the limitation before they choose whether or not to make a purchase.
This isn't a case of people losing the password to the iPad--they never had it to begin with. They inherited an iPad, which was locked, and Apple refused to unlock it despite proof of death.
This would be disgraceful at the best of times, and it's just adding insult to injury in this case.
It seems not only software but even perfectly usable hardware can now be crippled by some high and might organisation's "security" measures. Roll on changes in the law to compel unlocking mechanisms.
Actually this is exactly what I want to happen to any devices that I own. Depending on the executor of the will of course, there is a lot to gain from possession of a device/account.
People need to make separate arrangements like password handover etc and sort their affairs out properly. This should be promoted here, not the fact that Apple haven't handed the details over yet.
If I were Apple, I'd deny the request to be honest.
If I were the people in question, Id shrug the iPad off and get on with rebuilding my life.
And before I get accused of sounding insensitive, exactly this happened to me with my father a couple of years back. I had a 1Tb encrypted NAS and no passwords. Had to write the data off.
Edit: that NAS array contained 38,000 photographs for reference that I'll never see.
Apple's "Activation lock" keeps devices bound to a specific Apple ID even in the case of a device firmware reset.
This little bit of extra information I've given shows the senselessness of the article.
The device can be reset with the mother's Apple ID. Her Apple ID can be reset through her email address. Her email address controls tons of important accounts that must be dealt with by her successors.
If her children did not get access to her email address, that is poor end-of-life planning, and the iPad problem stems from it.
Maybe she left something on there that the family would like to know about - like unsync'ed photo's, surprise notes that she left thinking the kids would read them later, and so on ..
Not really madness... Theft prevention has been a mandate. I would love to see your foolproof proposal for preventing unauthorized users access while allowing authorized people access.
There's absolutely nothing stopping them from using the iPad with a fresh OS installation, so I don't think useless is actually an accurate description. (Indeed, the BBC title is less linkbaity than this one and acknowledges the subjectivity of that description.)
Without a provision in the will to permit Apple to unlock the device, I can see why it would be hesitant to do so. Certainly, if I bequeathed my phone, computer, or tablet to relatives I would most assuredly not want them to also have access to the content on it.
This is less about the device and more about the content. Yes, they could wipe the device and start over without issue, but they would lose access to the mother's purchased content in iTunes. Some people have the income to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on content for their Apple device. In that case it would be a substantial loss to lose access.
You know, I remember perusing Richard Stallman's "The Right to Read" in the early 2000s and thinking "this is all extremely unlikely and way too pessimistic, this stuff will never happen like this" — http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html — and here we are, one step at a time, inching towards trapping our knowledge on devices that only one person can ever use.
OMG just do a DFU Restore and be done with it.
How is it crippled if you can just restore it? I think the only thing crippled is their heads...
You can have whatever "activation lock" you want active if you do a DFU restore it does not matter. The device will be restored and you'll have full access to it.
WTF why the drama?
Maybe too snarky, but they could have simply called Apple support and gotten them to reset the password. If a hacker can impersonate a person, hopefully this guy would know enough about his mom to do so too.
I'm hoping they already tried the security question route and were unsuccessful.
poolpool|12 years ago
This sucks but is all this heartbreak and fighting with a company worth a 500 dollar toy? This whole thing is ridiculous.
Silhouette|12 years ago
You do understand that some people have to work full time for several months to save enough to buy that kind of "toy", right? Maybe you're lucky enough to be more wealthy than that, but many aren't. Not that the amount of money involved is even slightly the point here anyway.
gamblor956|12 years ago
These US laws are generally based on UK estate laws, so it is highly unlikely that a court order would be required in the UK.
Really, for a multi-billion dollar with billions of dollars in profit each quarter, Apple's inability or unwillingness to perform an hour or two of basic legal research is shocking, especiallly considering that they are effectively demanding that the estate pay 500 pounds for access to a toy that likely cost 500 pounds.
welly|12 years ago
A 500 dollar toy that could well contain photographs and other media from a recently departed that are not available elsewhere.
Yes, it probably is well worth the heartbreak and fighting.
Hansi|12 years ago
That way they can get any information they need easily if something were to happen to me by unlocking the disk image with the password they have.
Obviously out of the scope for most people (including article's subject) to set up but a good idea for those of us who are technologically inclined IMO (others may disagree, if so I'd love to hear why).
jws|12 years ago
"We've provided the death certificate, will and solicitor's letter but it wasn't enough. They've now asked for a court order to prove that mum was the owner of the iPad and the iTunes account.
The survivors are balking at the £200/hr for the solicitor to make that happen.
So it appears there is a path for an executor to gain control of an iTunes account and iOS devices, but it requires a legal verification from the courts. Anything less would be open to abuse.
Note to self: make a mechanism for my survivors to unlock my keychain, because that is really going to suck for them in my case.
vinceguidry|12 years ago
I'm getting pretty sick of the externalities of people's unwillingness to manage their information. You lose your password, you lose your device, unless you know how to hack it or can pay someone to do it. If it costs you more to recover your device than it's worth, tough shit. That password is designed to keep people who don't know it out. Don't lose track of it.
Silhouette|12 years ago
That's fair enough, as long as you also prominently advertise the fact that ever forgetting that password will render your device worthless, so that everyone is fully aware of the limitation before they choose whether or not to make a purchase.
josteink|12 years ago
Let's apply it to email, online banking and forum accounts while we're at it, shall we?
gamblor956|12 years ago
Silhouette|12 years ago
It seems not only software but even perfectly usable hardware can now be crippled by some high and might organisation's "security" measures. Roll on changes in the law to compel unlocking mechanisms.
bananas|12 years ago
People need to make separate arrangements like password handover etc and sort their affairs out properly. This should be promoted here, not the fact that Apple haven't handed the details over yet.
If I were Apple, I'd deny the request to be honest.
If I were the people in question, Id shrug the iPad off and get on with rebuilding my life.
And before I get accused of sounding insensitive, exactly this happened to me with my father a couple of years back. I had a 1Tb encrypted NAS and no passwords. Had to write the data off.
Edit: that NAS array contained 38,000 photographs for reference that I'll never see.
nb1981|12 years ago
richardking|12 years ago
droopyEyelids|12 years ago
This little bit of extra information I've given shows the senselessness of the article.
The device can be reset with the mother's Apple ID. Her Apple ID can be reset through her email address. Her email address controls tons of important accounts that must be dealt with by her successors.
If her children did not get access to her email address, that is poor end-of-life planning, and the iPad problem stems from it.
huxley|12 years ago
RazerM|12 years ago
fit2rule|12 years ago
joevandyk|12 years ago
josteink|12 years ago
Cases like this shows why tablets, like any other computers, should be formatable and reinstallable.
Android at least has a factory reset option in the recovery menus for cases like this.
pseudometa|12 years ago
bunderbunder|12 years ago
allyant|12 years ago
This would be the same as google not providing the users google credentials.
thisishugo|12 years ago
Without a provision in the will to permit Apple to unlock the device, I can see why it would be hesitant to do so. Certainly, if I bequeathed my phone, computer, or tablet to relatives I would most assuredly not want them to also have access to the content on it.
zwily|12 years ago
probablyfiction|12 years ago
mherdeg|12 years ago
ioanpopovici|12 years ago
jamdavswim|12 years ago
e28eta|12 years ago
I'm hoping they already tried the security question route and were unsuccessful.
mbrutsch|12 years ago
Problem solved.
I know all of my wife's passwords, and if my folks were alive, I'm sure I'd know all of them, as well.
al2o3cr|12 years ago
jug6ernaut|12 years ago
badman_ting|12 years ago
happyscrappy|12 years ago
nb1981|12 years ago