FileVault - Yes or No

[Sarah P.]

How about privacy if we have turned of FileVault and need to send outr Mac to Apple for repair?Can we trust Apple not to inspect our files ?
Cheers SP

 

[chabig]

How about privacy if we have turned of FileVault and need to send outr Mac to Apple for repair?Can we trust Apple not to inspect our files ?
Cheers SP

FileVault doesn’t matter either way in that case on T2 or later machines. Everything is encrypted. If you give them your account credentials they can see your data. If you don’t, they can’t.

 

[Sarah P.]

FileVault doesn’t matter either way in that case on T2 or later machines. Everything is encrypted. If you give them your account credentials they can see your data. If you don’t, they can’t.

On my mac mini m1 it says disabled:

 

[chrfr]

How about privacy if we have turned of FileVault and need to send outr Mac to Apple for repair?Can we trust Apple not to inspect our files ?
Cheers SP

You should assume any repair facility has access to your files.

FileVault doesn’t matter either way in that case on T2 or later machines. Everything is encrypted. If you give them your account credentials they can see your data. If you don’t, they can’t.

If FileVault is turned off, and you put a T2 Mac into target disk mode, the disk is completely accessible without any credentials.

 

[chabig]

If FileVault is turned off, and you put a T2 Mac into target disk mode, the disk is completely accessible without any credentials.

Good catch. I was wrong about T2 Macs. An administrator password is required to put an Apple Silicon Mac into target disk mode. That isn't required on T2 Macs.

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode

You can connect two Mac computers using a USB, USB-C, or Thunderbolt cable, then transfer files.

support.apple.com

Transfer files between a Mac with Apple silicon and another Mac

On a Mac with Apple silicon, use Mac Sharing to connect to another Mac and transfer files.

support.apple.com