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> most everyone knows to find the button which wipes it Not talking about Apple hardware/software specifically here, but i don't see the same here. Most comput

> most everyone knows to find the button which wipes it Not talking about Apple hardware/software specifically here, but i don't see the same here. Most computers donated to associations i'm involved with was never wiped, even when coming from corporations/institutions. Sometimes though, we do receive computers without (EDIT:) harddrive, but it's still the minority. I can count on my two hands the times someone has donated to us fresh system installs (user data wiped), in over two decades. > they can disown the device by signing into icloud.com from any web browser That is, assuming you know these credentials. Most people who are not entirely locked inside the Apple walled garden create an account because they're forced to but don't care/remember actual credentials, then forget it. Same goes with other kinds of credentials, not just Apple... but only forgetting Apple (and a few others, like Samsung) credentials turns hardware into useless paperweights. Or maybe the person has diseased, or moved to a foreign country. Or maybe they've just donated the old phone in a box full of random stuff and by the time you realize the phone is locked the person has already gone and you have no way to reach them. In my personal experience, even with hardware directly donated by friends, fishing for an old passphrase more often than not raises "uuuuuuugh i gotta have this password somewhere, let me check and i'll call you back in a few days" (<-- loop here for about 3 months before you give up). > It's curious that you don't even know how the process works I pretty much know about it, thanks. I was suggesting precisely that iCloud lock be entirely removed, and instead a recovery mechanism would wipe the entire device as a privacy-protecting measure.

simondotau 5y ago
Most people don’t think about the private data on their computer. Most people don’t know how to wipe a computer, and there’s no simple button like there on an iPhone, so they don’t. You have no idea how much of the stuff you receive is dumped on you after being stolen (or otherwise misappropriated) and judged too worthless to fence. But we certainly know that only the tiniest fraction of devices go to recycling centres like yours, and so of course you’re going to see mostly activation locked ones which have no market value—and not the other 99.9% of devices where activation lock didn’t preclude second hand sale, trade in, or commercial refurbishing/recycling.

simondotau 5y ago

Most people don’t think about the private data on their computer. Most people don’t know how to wipe a computer, and there’s no simple button like there on an iPhone, so they don’t. You have no idea how much of the stuff you receive is dumped on you after being stolen (or otherwise misappropriated) and judged too worthless to fence. But we certainly know that only the tiniest fraction of devices go to recycling centres like yours, and so of course you’re going to see mostly activation locked ones which have no market value—and not the other 99.9% of devices where activation lock didn’t preclude second hand sale, trade in, or commercial refurbishing/recycling.