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i bought an iPhone 4S second-hand and it has activation lock. i dont know how to contact the original owner. how do i reset it so i can use it?
iPhone 4S, iOS 7.0.6, New iPhone!
CitraXas13 wrote:
if i brought it to them and explained my situation?
they would explain you need to remove the Activation lock using the AppleID/password it was turned on with.
and that they cannot (not that they won't or don't want to) deactivate it.
would they at least be able to help me contact the original owner so i can have them remove the iphone from their account?
I took your "I know what activation lock is" as "snobby". I was trying to help you by pointing out that it is fairly new and may explain why you were able to purchase used items before without issue.
Chris CA is exactly right ... what type of store would not honor their sale by guaranteeing that you could at least get into the device?
CitraXas13 wrote:
would they at least be able to help me contact the original owner
No. That would be up to the store you purchased it from.
activation lock is an obvious and slf explanatory thing. but in a case where there are hundreds of cases like mine (google it) and a company thats oblivious to an obvious problem, there should be at least some way around this (no matter how hard to acheieve), so that people who dont remove their devices from their accounts, dont screw people over like me. or at least make an effort to make more people aware of this feature.
and the store i purchased it from is in a whole other state... yeesh.
Actually, the feature got a lot of publicity when Apple announced it last summer. The publicity came not only from Apple, but from law enforcement agencies around the U.S. that embraced Activation Lock as a means of combatting iPhone thefts.
If a person fails to remove a device from their account before relasing that device, it is still possible for that person to remove the Activation Lock even though they no longer have the device. But they have to perform that action using their Apple ID and password. So if you could contact the original owner, even though you have the device, they could help you.
i understand that, and my new question is if theres any way that apple can help me contact the owner. i see the email displayed on the iPhone as a******@gmail.com. is there any way for me to reveal that email or contact it through the phone? would Apple be able to help?
No.
CitraXas13 wrote:
i understand that, and my new question is if theres any way that apple can help me contact the owner. i see the email displayed on the iPhone as a******@gmail.com. is there any way for me to reveal that email or contact it through the phone? would Apple be able to help?
You need a court order for that.
a court order? what is that going to do?
CitraXas13 wrote:
a court order? what is that going to do?
You want to get the address of a person don't you? Think Privacy.
i am thinking privacy. and i hav NO info on the person other than the withheld email address the iphone is displaying. not address.
E-mail address is also an address.
Anyway, to summarise: we cannot help and there's no way to bypass Activation Lock.
If I was you, I will bug the seller untill I get one that I can use. I hope you have a receipt from that purchased.
okay, thanks for everones help.
iphone 4s activation lock
