Is erase all contents and settings enough?

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Level 1

15 points

Is erase all contents and settings enough?

Hi All

I want to know wether following Apple's steps before selling an iPhone 6 goes far enough in terms of data protection? I have read conflicted information about iPhone data recovery software and software used to wipe over the device again. Am I safe in thinking the iPhone data recovery software packages are useless, despite some "well known" Mac sites having reviewed these products. Admittedly, I also can't find any independent customer reviews of these types of software. Is it still the case that "erase all content and settings" is safe and it's not just a case of some unscrupulous character buying some $29.99 software to access all my supposedly deleted data.

Thanks in Advance

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 10, null

Posted on Mar 11, 2018 6:49 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

LACAllen

Level 8

43,416 points

Mar 11, 2018 9:24 AM in response to PerryParker

By "erasing all content and settings", you are removing the encryption key that protected your stored data. Without that key, your data can't be recovered.

Even if there was a way to recover the bits and bytes from your device, they are useless without the matching and unique-to-you encryption key that is no longer available.

See >>> https://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf for as much geeky detail as you may need.

If you spend enough time at it, you can read anything you want to read online. Including how the earth is actually flat.

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