Reactivating a lost iPhone.

Question

Level 1

8 points

Reactivating a lost iPhone.

I lost my iPhone 5 in Entebbe Airport a couple of years ago while I was on route to Nairobi. At that time, although lost, the phone still had a data connection and still showed me where it was! Once I arrived in Nairobi I managed to erase the phone using iCloud but had no way of physically retrieving it.

The phone has since been retrieved and passed on to an acquaintance who is now looking after it.

My questions is...will erasing the phone have wiped all my personal information or will some of it still remain on the phone. Also, if I were to remove the phone from my account using iCloud would my acquaintance be able to set the phone up using his own log in details and use it for himself but without having access to my data.

I'd be grateful for any help. Many thanks. Michael

iPhone 5

Posted on Jun 17, 2020 2:00 PM

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Answer 1

Axel Foley

Level 10

149,508 points

Jun 17, 2020 3:17 PM in response to mwoodsgbr

Did you have a passcode set on that iPhone? If YES then that is a good thing because even if the data was not erased, your friend will have to erase the entire iPhone first to reset the passcode.

Did you get a confirmation that the iPhone was erased when you performed the task from iCloud? If YES then it was erased.

Can your acquaintance bring the iPhone to you so that you can ensure that it was erased?

At present you have an activation lock set on that device because it is listed under your iCloud / Apple ID account. If you remove it then the other person can activate and use the iPhone.

Bottom line is that if you had a passcode set on your iPhone then it will have to be erased to remove the passcode and then activated for use.

Axel F.

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Answer 2

mwoodsgbr Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 18, 2020 1:49 AM in response to Axel Foley

Yes I did have a passcode set and yes I did get a message saying the phone was erased with a message on the login screen giving my phone number in case the phone was ever found.

Does this mean I can safely remove the phone from my account using iCloud and then give the phone to the person who now has it without him being able to see any of the data that was originally on the phone? Presumably he could then log in using his own Apple ID and set up the phone for himself. This being the end result that I would like.

Thanks and sorry to be so ignorant!

Mike

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