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Ask HN: Why does Apple want me to expose my iPhone password to repair my screen?

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Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple want me to expose my iPhone password to repair my screen?

#71

Post by coolThingsFirst »

corobo wrote: post #23
coolThingsFirst wrote: post #2

You are needlessly paranoid. It's common to ask for the password and I don't think they'd touch your private files. After the screen is fixed they'd need to do QA that it works correctly. Some things you just have to trust in life, too much paranoia won't lead you to good places. Trust me, I've been there.

> You are needlessly paranoid. > It's common to ask for the password Haha, good one. I got a chortle combining this attitude with a site called hacker news. ... it was satire, right? I'd be up for them wiping the phone and I'll restore from backup later. Giving out my password defeats the point of me having a password. Them nudes don't leak themselves. Not to mention you're on the hook for any any sensitive work stuf…

It doesn't defeat the purpose you'd know immediately if something went wrong. Like I said this is a routine.

If you fly, you are basically trusting your life to 2 people in the cockpit that you don't know.

How come sharing password for data recovery is too great of a risk and flying is not.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple want me to expose my iPhone password to repair my screen?

#72

Post by tzs »

bdowling wrote: post #15

If the phone is semi-functional, then you should backup and factory reset the device before handing it off to be repaired.

I did that in December 2022, and then set it up on a different Apple ID, with a simple password and PIN, so if the repair place wanted any of (Apple ID, password, PIN) I could go ahead and give it to them. After the repair I did another reset, and restored the latest backup from the original Apple ID.

Worked fine, except it is now very confused about my "Longest Move Streak" record in Apple Fitness. Here's what it has said at various times this year:

2023-02-04: "You earned this award for your longest daily Move streak. 39 days, ending on 2023-02-03. Your current streak is 1,368 days".

2023-02-21: "You earned this award for your longest daily Move streak. 41 days, ending on 2023-02-20. Your current streak is 1,385 days".

2023-09-24: "You earned this award for your longest daily Move streak. 37 days, ending on 2023-09-23. Your current streak is 1,600 days".

The current streak numbers are correct. The longest streak numbers are now nonsensical and inconsistent.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple want me to expose my iPhone password to repair my screen?

#73

Post by asadotzler »

coolThingsFirst wrote: post #71
corobo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You are needlessly paranoid. > It's common to ask for the password Haha, good one. I got a chortle combining this attitude with a site called hacker news. ... it was satire, right? I'd be up for them wiping the phone and I'll restore from backup later. Giving out my password defeats the point of me having a password. Them nudes don't leak themselves. Not to mention you're on the hook for any any sensitive work stuf…

It doesn't defeat the purpose you'd know immediately if something went wrong. Like I said this is a routine. If you fly, you are basically trusting your life to 2 people in the cockpit that you don't know. How come sharing password for data recovery is too great of a risk and flying is not.

Because some 17 year old kid with his first job in the repair shop is not the same thing as a trained pilot.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple want me to expose my iPhone password to repair my screen?

#74

Post by corobo »

coolThingsFirst wrote: post #71
corobo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You are needlessly paranoid. > It's common to ask for the password Haha, good one. I got a chortle combining this attitude with a site called hacker news. ... it was satire, right? I'd be up for them wiping the phone and I'll restore from backup later. Giving out my password defeats the point of me having a password. Them nudes don't leak themselves. Not to mention you're on the hook for any any sensitive work stuf…

It doesn't defeat the purpose you'd know immediately if something went wrong. Like I said this is a routine. If you fly, you are basically trusting your life to 2 people in the cockpit that you don't know. How come sharing password for data recovery is too great of a risk and flying is not.

I'd rather prevent the bad thing from happening than react to it when it does though. Much less effort.

If I fly I assume the pilots don't want to lose their high paying jobs and/or their lives. Min wage can be swapped out for min wage without much of a life disruption.

Also if a flight goes wrong chances are I won't be intact enough to care about the repercussions.

Unfortunately too I've only been on a plane twice in my life, bad example haha (In fairness that's not fear based, just never really been able to afford holidays)

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple want me to expose my iPhone password to repair my screen?

#75

Post by chatmasta »

Karupan wrote: post #16

I was asked to do this for my MacBook repair and I asked them why. The technician said they had to run their diagnostic tool to make sure everything is in order. But he simply asked me to create a new limited access user rather than give out my password. Unfortunately this doesn’t help your situation, so I’d recommend taking a full offline backup using iTunes, erasing the phone and restoring your backup once you get…

You can't create a backup in iTunes (or wipe the phone) without entering the passcode on your device, right? And that's the issue that OP has in the first place. Is it still possible to enter your password via an HID device (e.g. a keyboard with lighting cable)?

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple want me to expose my iPhone password to repair my screen?

#76

Post by chatmasta »

xnzakg wrote: post #59
discordance wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get why you’re being careful, but following on from your logic there… there’s nothing from them also adding in some root kit. Depending on your level of carefulness… I would consider your phone not secure if it’s confiscated and you’re not in the same room as it.

Following the same logic, you should never buy a phone used in case the previous owner installed a rootkit, and may also want to worry about rogue factory workers installing a rootkit before packaging the phone. I think running a system restore should make the phone reasonably safe?

How do you know they didn't install a hardware rootkit while they were repairing your phone?

(btw, this is partially the logic of why Apple wants to forbid uncertified third party repairs)

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple want me to expose my iPhone password to repair my screen?

#77

Post by discordance »

xnzakg wrote: post #59
discordance wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get why you’re being careful, but following on from your logic there… there’s nothing from them also adding in some root kit. Depending on your level of carefulness… I would consider your phone not secure if it’s confiscated and you’re not in the same room as it.

Following the same logic, you should never buy a phone used in case the previous owner installed a rootkit, and may also want to worry about rogue factory workers installing a rootkit before packaging the phone. I think running a system restore should make the phone reasonably safe?

Yeah exactly. Ultimately we have to trust someone in the supply chain, otherwise you're destined to live a life like rms.
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