Access to encrypted messages of deceased family member denied

Struwwelpeter2 wrote:

Since my son's iPhone was lost during the aircraft accident, and we didn't have the Apple ID passcode to his MacBook, Apple recommended setting up a new Apple ID in my son's name with a new password, erasing the MacBook to reset it, and using an older iPhone to re-create his account. That way, we were able to sync to his iCloud account to get access to his documents and photos, for which I am forever grateful. However, without the passcode to either his MacBook or his iPhone, syncing his messages seems impossible.

That was my experience with the forgotten Passcode, where everything was recovered except the encrypted data.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your son. That is tragic and I understand the desire for those messages. Lost both of my parents 1 month apart, but to lose a son just does not seem to be something a parent should have to go through.

The messages in iCloud are encrypted where the photos and other data are not. You are correct that the data is encrypted with the Device Passcode and Apple does not know what the Passcode is to decrypt the messages. They can verify that a Passcode entered is correct through what is called a one way hash. They maintain the hash key for verification of the Passcode, but it does not give them access to the Passcode to know what it is or to decrypt the data. The hash is not backwards compatible to reveal the Passcode.

That is why if you forget your Passcode, it requires all your data on the device to be wiped, because the data cannot be recovered with the Passcode. There are simply no backdoors, where it would be possible for a bad actor to gain access.

I agree that the best method is for a person to record their Passcode and Passwords and keep them in a Safe Place where access is only possible after death in any manner they wish, if they want their encrypted data to be made available. They are the only one's that know the key to decrypt the data.

You can't access messages through iCloud, even if it's your account. Messages can only be accessed directly from Messages on a device. So, it makes sense to me that being a legacy contact doesn't give you access to it. I suspect that Apple is being truthful, that it would require the device passcode to access them. I know that's not the answer you want.

I am very sorry for your loss.

Mac Jim ID wrote:

The messages in iCloud are encrypted where the photos and other data are not. You are correct that the data is encrypted with the Device Passcode and Apple does not know what the Passcode is to decrypt the messages.

The following Support article indicates that Message in Cloud are always end-to-end encrypted – and that the data can only be decrypted on trusted devices where you are signed into your Apple Account.

I don't know if the encryption key is the device passcode – my iPhone and Mac both have to Messages in iCloud, and I'm not sure that my Mac knows my iPhone's passcode, or vice versa. But whatever it is, Apple doesn't have the key, and so can't take any direct action to help the OP recover the Messages (or other protected data).

iCloud data security overview - Apple Support

The only thing I can think of … if Apple provided access to the son's Apple Account, and it was possible to add a trusted device to that account, would that device then be able to access the messages? Even though Apple had no access, themselves, to the encryption keys?

Servant of Cats wrote:

The only thing I can think of … if Apple provided access to the son's Apple Account, and it was possible to add a trusted device to that account, would that device then be able to access the messages? Even though Apple had no access, themselves, to the encryption keys?

That is a good point. I do know that if you forget your device Passcode, you can reset it by wiping your device, but to restore you will not get any encrypted data, such as Messages or Health data. When you attempt to restore, there is a message that states you must enter your old Passcode for that data and if you do not know it, which is the case of a forgotten Passcode, the only option for me was to erase the encrypted data.

Now that I think about it, when I went through the process, I don't remember if I was using Messages in iCloud or if the Messages were stored in the device backup, which may be the difference. I also did not have another Trusted Device to receive a verification code, which may be why that option was not offered.

It is an interesting question if you could add a Trusted Device. We know you are not given the Password to the account to gain access, so in that case you would not be able to sign in to the account from another device. I suppose access is similar to the Legacy Contact where Apple creates a special Apple Account for access and the limitations of that account are unknown by me. For access with the Legacy Contact, it says the original Apple Account would no longer work.

When access is approved, your Legacy Contact receives a special Apple Account that they can set up and use to access your account. Your Apple Account will no longer work, and Activation Lock is removed on any devices that use your Apple Account.

How to add a Legacy Contact for your Apple Account - Apple Support

Thanks for the correction and additional information.

Struwwelpeter2 wrote:

Not a great experience and very disappointing.

I cay understand your grief but you need to realize an encrypted message means the person wanted extra security and privacy of their messages. You can't have it both ways. They basically said, "I don't want anybody but me to be able to read this." Apple respects that and offers that level of security, but it means that even the owner cannot read their own messages if they do not know the passcode. Nobody can except maybe somebody who has access to a stable of supercomputers, a couple of million dollars and a lot of time.

Struwwelpeter2 wrote:

What is Apple's recommendation in this case?

No one here can tell you that.

All we can tell you is that, when you're thinking about this for yourself is that you put your passwords somewhere secure that your heirs have access to. That could be a notebook in a safe deposit box or it could be a shared password account in third party password service like 1Password.

I periodically archive my text messages to pdfs using software called iMazing (TouchCopy is another one). They are stored on my iCloud Drive. My legacy contact would have access to whatever I had archived.

I'm sorry none of this will help you with the current issue but perhaps it will give you some ideas on how to proceed for yourself.

I am not familiar with message encryption but it may not so much be a matter of would Apple help, but is Apple actually able to help. Some encryption takes place outside of Apple's immediate auspices and Apple simply cannot decode files to which they have no key. Have you asked them which way it is?

On further reading, it looks like the normal way to add a trusted device involves having access to another trusted device – access that the OP doesn't have. Oh well.

About trusted phone numbers and trusted devices for Apple Account - Apple Support

There are hundreds of web pages of Apple support information. They are open to the public if you search the site. Many younger people balk at the idea of reading anything at all these days (they prefer to watch a video) and I don't know what would need to be prioritized or a way of forcing people to read things (they won't even read terms and conditions that will immediately affect them). Yes, this is an important topic to you, but I see many more per day asking about refunds or changing their Apple Account email address or cleaning Airpods. In fact, referring people to Apple's support articles is what many of us do here. However, people almost always ask about something when the issue is at hand, not ahead of time.