iCloud Deleting passwords from iCloud

[ghanwani]

How can I delete any previously sync’ed passwords via iCloud? I just disabled it on my iPhone but I want to make sure all passwords stored in iCloud are deleted.

I don’t have a macOS device, just the iPhone. Of course I can log in to iCloud in a browser on windows.

 

[okkibs]

Apple does not list a way to guarantee removal from iCloud. Deactivating does not work, they'll just sync back from iCloud when it's activated again. You can activate the sync and then delete the passwords from your device one by one, as that syncs to iCloud it should remove the passwords from iCloud as well. That is the only way I know to come to a reasonable conclusion that the passwords are really gone. But then they are gone from your iPhone as well of course.

In any case, passwords are end to end encrypted in iCloud so Apple and third parties (through Apple) cannot access them: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102651

I make use of the iCloud keychain sync because it's the only solution out there that reliably syncs across devices without any third party apps and without Apple being able to read the passwords from their servers. Unless you are in China where Apple cannot be trusted in terms of privacy I would keep using the iCloud keychain.

 

[ghanwani]

Apple does not list a way to guarantee removal from iCloud. Deactivating does not work, they'll just sync back from iCloud when it's activated again. You can activate the sync and then delete the passwords from your device one by one, as that syncs to iCloud it should remove the passwords from iCloud as well. That is the only way I know to come to a reasonable conclusion that the passwords are really gone. But then they are gone from your iPhone as well of course.

In any case, passwords are end to end encrypted in iCloud so Apple and third parties (through Apple) cannot access them: https://support.apple.com/en-us/102651

I make use of the iCloud keychain sync because it's the only solution out there that reliably syncs across devices without any third party apps and without Apple being able to read the passwords from their servers. Unless you are in China where Apple cannot be trusted in terms of privacy I would keep using the iCloud keychain.

So iCloud is not like Google where you can view the passwords in plaintext if you're logged into the Google and have the Google account password?

 

[okkibs]

So iCloud is not like Google where you can view the passwords in plaintext if you're logged into the Google and have the Google account password?

No, that is not possible. It can only be synced to a device and only if the device can decrypt the passwords with your lock screen passcode. For example if you have no device logged into your account anymore and you don't remember the passcodes of any of your previous devices the passwords are gone and you have to start over.

I trust Apple over Google because contrary to other businesses like Google Apple explicitely says that your data remains on your device and can't be read by third parties or Apple themselves. But in order for that to apply to all your iCloud data and not just passwords you need to enable the advanced data protection for iCloud setting. Then your health/workout data as well as backups and photos can't be read by Apple. You can find instructions how to enable it with the previously linked Apple article.

Apple is currently working on a way to share some data anonymously (of course not passwords), to give anonymous user data to advertisers and other third parties in a more controlled way than other businesses do it now, but currently that is not being done. Once Apple announces such a major change I will have to rethink what data I want to store with Apple. Or maybe not, if it's optional.