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The story is 2500+ words in two different articles, to summarize: * The author's MacBook was lost/stolen * Because the author hadn't set up Find My, someone e

by ahepp 3y ago

The story is 2500+ words in two different articles, to summarize: * The author's MacBook was lost/stolen * Because the author hadn't set up Find My, someone else was able to reset the laptop * When the author recovered the laptop, someone else had set up Find My and reported the laptop lost * Because someone else had set up Find My, the author was unable to reset the laptop * Apple refused to reset the laptop for the author, despite the author having a receipt for the laptop's original purchase It's interesting to me, because it's actually an inversion of the whole "we don't own our devices anymore" trope. The author successfully begged Apple to backdoor an otherwise effective security and ownership protection. Apple gave the author the tools to recover their laptop in the event it was lost or stolen, and the author consciously chose not to use those tools. Possession is 9/10ths of the law, and if you don't have Find My enabled it's 10/10ths of the law. That means if someone else gains possession of your device, and you chose not to use Find My, there is nothing Apple can or should do to save you. How would they know who the legitimate owner is beyond possession or Find My? People sell used MacBooks all the time. Just because the author was the original purchaser, doesn't mean they are the rightful owner. In this case I believe the author probably is the rightful owner, but I would rather Apple not be the judge of that. This is literally only a problem for people too stubborn to set up Find My, who also care deeply about recovering their laptop if it gets lost. Think about how paradoxical that is!

deleted 3y ago
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asdgaijion 3y ago
>It's interesting to me, because it's actually an inversion of the whole "we don't own our devices anymore" trope. No it isn't. "Find My" is controlled by Apple, not entirely by the user. The fact that it is possible for Apple to undo the lock proves that the device isn't controlled by the owner.
- ahepp 3y ago
  > The fact that it is possible for Apple to undo the lock proves that the device isn't controlled by the owner. I agree I think it's an inversion of the trope because this is presented as a good thing, and something that Apple should do more of.
rbut 3y ago
> This is literally only a problem for people too stubborn to set up Find My I disagree with this. I have never enabled Find My because for privacy reasons I don't want my location being transmitted to Apple. What would be better is some means of opting out of Find My being able to ever be enabled on my device. If I ever sold my device I'd have to communicate that to the buyer, and I may lose some resale value, but that's a compromise I'd be willing to make.
- ahepp 3y ago
  That's an interesting idea. Some kind of e-fuse that can permanently disable Find My. As you say, there are some concerns for resale, but let's assume those can be worked out. I am not sure I see the feature being very useful. If you have lost your laptop without Find My enabled, and someone else gained possession of the laptop and wanted to activate Find My but couldn't because of this feature, you would still almost certainly not be able to recover the laptop. So what does the feature do? Take this story, for example. If the laptop hadn't been bricked, it seems unlikely that it would have found its way back to OP.
- chongli 3y ago
  You can turn on Find My and disable location services for the device. That prevents it from being tracked but still enables you to lock and remote wipe. What would be better is some means of opting out of Find My being able to ever be enabled on my device. How would that work? A fuse inside the device? Seems like it would make the device vulnerable to an electrical hack. Why would Apple develop such a feature anyway? I bet fewer than 1% of users would use it.
jrmg 3y ago
It’s also interesting how almost all the negative responses here are comparing the situation to what would’ve happened with a laptop that has no feature like ‘find my’, and somehow concluding that the original owner would’ve been in a better situation if ‘find my’ did not exist. But the reason the laptop was bricked was that someone other than the owner _deliberately bricked it_ (by turning on ‘find my’ and locking the laptop to a new iCloud account). It’s always been the case that a thief could break your laptop (and not return it!). Additionally, the only reason they got their (non-functioning) laptop _back_ was that the thief realized they couldn’t unlock it and thought it was tied to the original owner’s iCloud account! If it had been working, I don’t think they’d have got it back.
Lockal 3y ago
In the summary you skipped few points: 1) First article mentions: "I have a couple of theories though. I set up Find My with an Apple ID that I don’t remember" 2) Second article mentions, that he attempted to report this as a vulnerability bug bounty program and disappointed that it wasn't considered a vulnerability. 3) The whole premise of "an email to Tim Cook" looks like a clickbait. By the point when he sent this email, his previous blog post already reached the top of Hacker News. There is no indication that Tim Cook was involved. The email was processed by staff in Japan. The combination of these 3 facts make the whole story look very fishy. Given that author does not remember if he configured "Find My" at all, consequent "we don't own our devices anymore" sounds like populism and appeal to sentiment rather than a logically valid inference.

by ahepp 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

asdgaijion 3y ago

>It's interesting to me, because it's actually an inversion of the whole "we don't own our devices anymore" trope. No it isn't. "Find My" is controlled by Apple, not entirely by the user. The fact that it is possible for Apple to undo the lock proves that the device isn't controlled by the owner.

ahepp 3y ago
> The fact that it is possible for Apple to undo the lock proves that the device isn't controlled by the owner. I agree I think it's an inversion of the trope because this is presented as a good thing, and something that Apple should do more of.

rbut 3y ago

> This is literally only a problem for people too stubborn to set up Find My I disagree with this. I have never enabled Find My because for privacy reasons I don't want my location being transmitted to Apple. What would be better is some means of opting out of Find My being able to ever be enabled on my device. If I ever sold my device I'd have to communicate that to the buyer, and I may lose some resale value, but that's a compromise I'd be willing to make.

ahepp 3y ago
That's an interesting idea. Some kind of e-fuse that can permanently disable Find My. As you say, there are some concerns for resale, but let's assume those can be worked out. I am not sure I see the feature being very useful. If you have lost your laptop without Find My enabled, and someone else gained possession of the laptop and wanted to activate Find My but couldn't because of this feature, you would still almost certainly not be able to recover the laptop. So what does the feature do? Take this story, for example. If the laptop hadn't been bricked, it seems unlikely that it would have found its way back to OP.
chongli 3y ago
You can turn on Find My and disable location services for the device. That prevents it from being tracked but still enables you to lock and remote wipe. What would be better is some means of opting out of Find My being able to ever be enabled on my device. How would that work? A fuse inside the device? Seems like it would make the device vulnerable to an electrical hack. Why would Apple develop such a feature anyway? I bet fewer than 1% of users would use it.

jrmg 3y ago

It’s also interesting how almost all the negative responses here are comparing the situation to what would’ve happened with a laptop that has no feature like ‘find my’, and somehow concluding that the original owner would’ve been in a better situation if ‘find my’ did not exist. But the reason the laptop was bricked was that someone other than the owner _deliberately bricked it_ (by turning on ‘find my’ and locking the laptop to a new iCloud account). It’s always been the case that a thief could break your laptop (and not return it!). Additionally, the only reason they got their (non-functioning) laptop _back_ was that the thief realized they couldn’t unlock it and thought it was tied to the original owner’s iCloud account! If it had been working, I don’t think they’d have got it back.

Lockal 3y ago

In the summary you skipped few points: 1) First article mentions: "I have a couple of theories though. I set up Find My with an Apple ID that I don’t remember" 2) Second article mentions, that he attempted to report this as a vulnerability bug bounty program and disappointed that it wasn't considered a vulnerability. 3) The whole premise of "an email to Tim Cook" looks like a clickbait. By the point when he sent this email, his previous blog post already reached the top of Hacker News. There is no indication that Tim Cook was involved. The email was processed by staff in Japan. The combination of these 3 facts make the whole story look very fishy. Given that author does not remember if he configured "Find My" at all, consequent "we don't own our devices anymore" sounds like populism and appeal to sentiment rather than a logically valid inference.