I lost my son's phone during a fishing trip back in June 2019. It hasn't been used since then, and I only logged into my iPad with the Apple ID in 2020. I changed the password to this Apple ID several times since the phone was lost, and I had to recover it a few times because I kept forgetting the password. Now, only a few apps and some photos from 2019 show up under that account. I'm confused because I've always used a separate Apple ID for texting and personal data. I'm wondering if logging into my Apple Watch or using my iPad with the App Store has somehow merged data across devices. Given that it's been so long since the phone was lost, I doubt it's been found, especially since 'Find My' was disabled, and I couldn't erase it. Here's my main question: If I've changed the password after the phone went missing and disconnected it from the phone line, could my iCloud still sync data if someone were to find it, or does changing the password stop this? I haven't received any notifications of login attempts, and it seems like nothing was used from 2019 to 2020 until I logged in. Thanks in advance for any insight!
1 Answer
It's possible that the lost device is still associated with your Apple ID, but no one can access it without your new password. If the photos were stored locally on the phone, they would still remain there. The best course of action would be to make an erase request through Find My. That way, if the phone connects to the internet again, all its data can be wiped for safety.
Can you still send an erase request if the device was never activated? I thought Find My needed to be turned on beforehand.