All Devices Keychain Question

[James Godfrey]

Hi all

just started using iCloud Keychain on my iPhone, now I do worry I am going to loose my passwords etc... when I get a new iPhone this year, am I right in thinking if I sign out all of my devices from iCloud at the same time my iCloud Keychain will also be wiped?

Also is it true that you have to keep at least one device signed into iCloud at all times in order to keep your iCloud Keychain items in iCloud?

thanks

James

 

[VineRider]

From https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204085


What happens when I turn off iCloud Keychain on a device?
When you turn off iCloud Keychain for a device, you're asked to keep or delete the passwords and credit card information that you saved. If you choose to keep the information, it isn't deleted or updated when you make changes on other devices. If you don't choose to keep the information on at least one device, your Keychain data will be deleted from your device and the iCloud servers.

 

[James Godfrey]

Thanks for clearing that up for me, weird why passwords arnt just stored in iCloud permanently... any reason why they get removed from iCloud if no devices are logged in? Also what would happen if someone wipes their iPhone then sets up their new one and that’s the only device they have?... strange

 

[Spudlicious]

Thanks for clearing that up for me, weird why passwords arnt just stored in iCloud permanently... any reason why they get removed from iCloud if no devices are logged in? Also what would happen if someone wipes their iPhone then sets up their new one and that’s the only device they have?... strange

Well, if I was to quit the Apple system altogether - not actually likely - do I want to have iCloud storing my passwords after I've wiped the devices? Why would I want that?
The scenario of a user with only one device wiping it and thus losing their password data is interesting, and if iCloud works as VineRider has described it must have happened to many. Even so, reseting a bunch of lost passwords is a pain rather than a disaster.

 

[James Godfrey]

Yeah I suppose it is to do with the security of your passwords, I think it would be a great idea if Apple put a bit of a warning when turning it off if you only have one device as I can imagine it would be a right pain if you only had one Apple device and just wipe it before setting up a new iPhone or iPad or whatever... then realising all of your passwords are gone.

 

[VineRider]

Wiping a device is different than signing out of iCloud. When you wipe the device, you are signing out of Find My iPhone which turns off activation lock. When you are signing out of iCloud without wiping your phone, you are going through a different process, which asks you what you want to do with your keychain data (along with other iCloud data).

Since I have mulitple devices, I cannot verify this, but I feel fairly certain that if you have only one device, and wipe the device, your keychain data will be retained in iCloud and available when you setup a new device by signing in to iCloud.

If, however, you signed out of iCloud on the single device and elected to not keep keychain data when prompted, it would be deleted from iCloud.

Best bet would be to initiate a chat with apple support to verify if you have concerns about the process.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

For all iCloud data, not just Keychain... Signing out of a device gives you the option of removing the information from the device or keeping it on the device. It does not affect what is being stored in iCloud. Data in iCloud remains in iCloud unless you explicitly delete it from iCloud.

iCloud Keychain data is end-to-end encrypted. That means only you have the encryption key (Apple doesn't have a key, so they can't decrypt, even if they have a government order to do so).

 

[VineRider]

For all iCloud data, not just Keychain... Signing out of a device gives you the option of removing the information from the device or keeping it on the device. It does not affect what is being stored in iCloud. Data in iCloud remains in iCloud unless you explicitly delete it from iCloud.

iCloud Keychain data is end-to-end encrypted. That means only you have the encryption key (Apple doesn't have a key, so they can't decrypt, even if they have a government order to do so).

I agree with your analysis regarding iCloud data. However, the support article for keychain specifically states that if you sign out of iCloud on all devices and do not keep the data on at least one device, it is deleted from iCloud.


From the article I posted above:
If you don't choose to keep the information on at least one device, your Keychain data will be deleted from your device and the iCloud servers.

 

[ahmetgns]

I was nearly losting my passwords . Because, while signing out iCloud on my single Apple Device iPhone 6 (with iOS12.5.7), it said "Keep or remove from the device? If removed from the device, the data will be available on iCloud anyway." and the a couple of toggle for iCloud Key Chain, Contacts etc. was below. So it didn't warn me that the key chain data will be lost if I select "remove from device".

Luckily I signed in iCloud on another device a couple of minutes ago for some testing and the key chain data was downloaded to that device.

Later when I signed in iCloud back on my iPhone 6, even toggled the Key Chain on, no passwords was downloaded to my iPhone 6. That means, the iCloud was cleared from my Key Chain Data.

To solve it, I toggled Key Chain on the other test device, waited for it to upload to my iCloud, then the data was downloaded to my iPhone 6 again.